How We Know Us

Month: July 2008

  • Lower Limits on Social Network Analysis: Just Ask

    Are there lower limits to the size of Social Networks worth analyzing?  The upper limit seems to be a function of how much time (and compute power) you have, but the lower? When we do analyses, these are certain characteristics we look for as verification that our models hold.  A key characteristic is the shape…

  • Social Networks of the Senate

    I always enjoy analyzing social networks (SN’s) that have had a lot less press than the Goliaths of MySpace and Facebook.  I have done an awful lot of them, but one of my favorites was looking at the co-sponsorship patterns in the US Senate, 110th session (the current one). This analysis was especially enjoyable because…

  • Your network: for or against you?

    Your network can help you or work against you, it all depends on the level alignment between your network and your goals.  If you are trying to get something done with a team, your network should reflect that.  If you are looking for new opportunties, your network should reflect that. I wrote a short piece…

  • Visualizing Your Professional Networks

    I spend much of my waking time thinking about how relationships between individuals in groups effect the behavior of the individuals and of the group itself. One tool I recently put together looks at professional relationships from LinkedIn.com. Attached is a representation of the relationships between the 17,000 people my work contacts know. This is…

  • This is…How We Know Us

    We are only beginning to gain an understand about how group decision making works, and the dynamics of the rolls individuals play in the process; despite a strong and accumulating academic history. With the rise in data availability through Social Networks, the potential for learning and profit are unprecedented in this field, but so is…