Collective behavior and information diffusion 1

Required readings

• W Goffman and VA Newill, Generalization of Epidemic Theory: An Application to the Transmission of Ideas, Nature (1964).
• DJ Daley and DG Kendall, Epidemics and Rumours, Nature (1964).
• M. Granovetter, Threshold Models of Collective Behavior, American Journal of Sociology (1978).
• M.J. Salganik et al., Experimental Study of Inequality and Unpredictability in an Artificial Cultural Market, Science 311, 854 (2006).

Further readings

• D. Centola and M. Macy, Complex Contagions and the Weakness of Long Ties, AJS 113, 702 (2007).
• Wikipedia: Diffusion of innovations
• N.A. Christakis and J.H. Fowler, The Spread of Obesity in a Large Social Network over 32 Years, NEJM 357, 370 (2007).
• C.R. Shalizi and A.C. Thomas, Homophily and Contagion Are Generically Confounded in Observational Social Network Studies, Sociological Methods and Research 40, 211 (2011).
• S. Aral et al., Distinguishing influence-based contagion from homophily-driven diffusion in dynamic networks, PNAS 106, 21544 (2009).
• S. Aral and D. Walker, Identifying Influential and Susceptible Members of Social Networks, Science 337, 337 (2012).
• R.M. Bond et al., A 61-million-person experiment in social influence and political mobilization, Nature 489, 295 (2012).