The Astonishing Impact of Social Networks: How Our Connections Shape Our Lives

Amazon Customer: This book is very interesting and clearly written by folks with deep understanding of network science and its relation to real world topics.

The material is presented a bit more informally than I would've preferred. Partly because I have some experience to network science at a college level, but also because I think a lot of the claims would've been stronger with more prominent references. It makes a lot of inferences and assumptions which, while neat to ponder, don't quite have the scientific rigor I'd prefer.

Still though, definitely worth reading!

United States on Aug 06, 2023

Chillyfinger: I heartily recommend the subject of this book -- social networks are very important (duh) and seriously under-studied. But the question is, will you learn anything of value about social networks from this particular book?

First, let me discourage you from buying the Kindle edition, which omits the plates. Visualization of networks is central to understanding what the authors are talking about but it's insane to pay almost $50 for the hard copy version. I reserve that kind of money for true classics and this ain't one by a long shot. So, don't buy it at all but maybe find it in your local library.

The authors are eager to present a "science" of social networks. Accordingly, the text is sprinkled with scientific fairy dust, including a liberal dose of "evolution talk" that reveals the authors fundamentally misunderstand evolution. We also have the usual cherrypicked and confirmation biased collection of "studies" supposedly confirming or at least suggesting the author's ideas. These connections are typically very weak, illustrated by the prevalence of such words as "may", "might", "suggest" ... The strongest connections are confirmation of the bleeding obvious, such as...

Canada on Oct 21, 2017

Leitir: I have been intrigued by network theory for some time and had read Duncan Watts' publication on six degrees last year. I first came across one of the authors thinking on the subject in a well-produced Big Think video. The book is a good follow-on from that. Although not necessary, I found it helpful to have watched the video before when reading the book. If you are put off by a lot of technical maths and formulae, don't worry - this book contains none of that. The closest it comes to this is the list of illustrations of particular networks cited in the text - and they are all very helpful in adding context. I loved this book and read through it reasonably quickly. It is one that would definitely reward a second and third reading. The authors have some interesting insights on the similarities and differences between virtual and real-world networks; and on how they interact. There is so much more to understand in this area. But the authors make a strong and convincing case that if we truly want to understand and resolve some of the most fundamental challenges facing us as a species - some of which we have created for ourselves - we need to understand more about how and why we are...

United Kingdom on Jul 24, 2016

JulzB: Given the following choice for your level of attractiveness, which would you prefer:

A: You can be about a 6/10 in a group of people who average 4/10.
B: You can be about an 8/10 in a group of people who average 10/10.

Which group would you choose?

If you chose A you are in good company. 75% of people chose A.

I chose B.

My thinking was that if I were in group A, it's more likely I would let myself go and become a 5. There would be no incentive to improve.

The majority of people surveyed do not share my perspective. Perhaps it's because the average person isn't actually aware of just how much the people in their circle impact their life and their decisions?

This book is a brilliant and somewhat startling account of how your decisions are massively influenced by the people in your social network. Your happiness, whether you quit smoking, lose or gain weight ... these are all things that YOU can change by changing who you associate with.

If human psychology interests you, if you're in a business where understanding people's decision making matters, or you just seek self improvement, this book will be one you'll love reading.

Canada on Sep 10, 2015

Glenn Myers: Only three stars for this well-researched, original and intriguing book, mainly because I was much more interested in the original and intriguing conclusions than the many pages of social and psychological research and anecdote. These Harvard profs doubtless want to strut their academic stuff but I would have liked (at least) more in the way of summary and signpost, For all that, fascinating, thought-provoking and one of those books that makes you think differently for ever after. Definitely worth a read.

Here are some of the things I learnt from reading (and extrapolating from) this book
1. We won't understand humans just by thinking of individuals, or yet of social class or race, So things about us are only explicable by seeing us as part of networks. For example, stock market crashes (or exuberance) are much more explained by people being influenced by the network around them, rather than the facts.
2. We affect others in many striking and unexpected ways, and these effects only die out after three degrees of separation: friends of friends of friends.Happiness, obesity, suicide, political affiliation, how piano teachers find new pupils, all show up as clusters in...

United Kingdom on Mar 24, 2015

Robert Morris: I read this book when it was first published in 2009 but am only now getting around to re-reading and then reviewing it. Since then, the nature and extent of social media have expanded and extended far beyond anything that Tim Berners-Lee could have imagined twenty years ago when he developed his concept of the worldwide "web" of electronic connection and interaction while working as an independent contractor the for European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). Currently he is the director of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Presumably Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler, co-authors of Connected, are amazed by the growth of networks of various kinds since they published their book.

As they observe in the Preface, "Scientists, philosophers, and others who study society have generally divided into two camps: those who think they are in control of their destinies, and those who believe that social forces (ranging from a lack of good public education to the presence of a corrupt government) are responsible for what happens to us." They think a third factor is missing from this debate: "our connections to others matter most, and by linking the study of individuals to...

United States on Nov 15, 2013

tst: "Three degrees of influence" - dies ist das zentrale Gesetz sozialer Netzwerke, das uns Nicholas A. Christakis und James H. Fowler in diesem Buch näher bringen. Das bedeutet, dass wir nicht nur einen Einfluss auf das Verhalten und die Gefühle direkter Freunde (Nachbarn, Arbeitskollegen etc.) haben, sondern gleichzeitig auch Menschen beeinflussen, die wir gar nicht persönlich kennen. So lernen wir z.B. unsere Ehepartner oft über diesen "Umweg" kennen: ein Freund (first degree) hat einen Freund (second degree) und dieser wiederum einen Freund (third degree), welcher möglicherweise zu unserem Lebenspartner wird.
Stellt man solche sozialen Netzwerke graphisch dar, erkennt man schnell, wie viele Menschen wir über die "three degrees of influence" erreichen und damit beeinflussen können. Denn in sozialen Netzwerken herrscht größte "Ansteckungsgefahr", wie uns die Autoren mit zahlreichen Beispielen erläutern. Ein glücklicher Mensch macht andere Menschen glücklicher (eben auch solche, die er nicht kennt), beeinflusst ihr Wahlverhalten (ja sogar, ob sie überhaupt zur Wahl gehen), ihre Gesundheit - leider auch im Negativen, wie sich z.B. daran zeigt, dass die Häufigkeit von...

Germany on Dec 15, 2010

B. Kim: "Connected" by Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler is one of the most important books you will ever read. In this insightful and thought-provoking book, the authors explore our social networks and their powerful shaping role in our daily lives. The authors show that the powerful role of social networks obeys the Three Degrees of Influence Rule, meaning that our behaviors have impact on our friends, our friends' friends, and our friends' friends' friends. This amazing fact can be applied to human experience as diverse as happiness, loneliness and other emotions, political views, sex, and health. For example, happiness can spread through social networks from person to person to person, and our health behaviors can affect those of our friends, our friends' friends, and even our friends' friends' friends.

As I perused this book twice since its publication, I found reading "Connected" very delightful since it presents a constellation of thought-provoking, and sometimes counter-intuitive, ideas on social networks. We can enjoy the book solely for the purpose of enhancing our knowledge. But I think this book is much more than that and has meaningful implications in various ways....

United States on Oct 12, 2009