Nature has published a fascinating article offering insight into our minds and the mechanisims of today’s socially connected world.
Computational social science: Making the links by Jim Giles, explores factors which influence the way we communicate. From e-mails to social networks, the digital traces left by life in the modern world are transforming social science.
What drives the formation of personal relationships? Is their a sophisticated mathematical equation underlying our networking preferences?
How do weak ties act as social bridges?
And what of the economic link? Is there a powerful correlation between the diversity of individuals’ relationships and economic development: the richer and more varied their connections, the richer their communities?
Read the full article to find out!
Reference: Nature 488, 448–450 (23 August 2012) doi:10.1038/488448