Networks Problem Set 1

Jonathan Mares

Problem 5 Part A I would say that Node G is probably a better choice because a link between X and G would be able to close 2 triangles (specifically XFG and XIG), which would then satisfy the condition of triadic closure for that sector of the network. Part B One very simple way to base a recommendation system is by mutual friends. The more mutual friends 2 people have, the more likely person A would either already know a recommended Person B or would want to know a Person B because they have a lot of friends in common. Part C A possible explanation: Those who have joined a social networking site very recently are probably in pursuit of gaining lots of friends. They may want to develop their networks because people generally have lots of friends on social networks, and using recommendations is a quick way to gain many friends. Those who have been on a network for a long time may already have a lot of friends, and recommending friends to these kinds of people may be more difficult because the system has to find friends that are further away, either by # of mutual of friends or any other method the system may use. Thus these less desirable recommendations may be rejected by those who have been on a network for a long time since they are too distant to want to be friends with them. Problem 6 We can draw the analogy of sharing a friends link to someone gaining a new piece of information. In class we talked about how most people get their jobs through distant friends rather than close friends, since close friends are more likely to already know the same people/ be subjected to similar information. A distant friend may act as a local bridge to a different social network, one which would be invisible to Person A (the one connected by a local bridge to the different social network) if the local bridge friendship is erased. Similarly, those who are distant friends will post links more often because it is more likely that they would not know this piece of information, thus finding it intriguing/interesting. This is represented by the lift, where the medium for finding out new information can be taken as links that come up on ones news feed. To summarize, the information found on your news feed may be filled with close and distant friends, but distant friends are more likely to post things that you may not know. Close friends are more likely to already know the same information via mutual interest/proximity so they may be less likely to repost one of their close friends links. Furthermore, distant friends generally are less likely to interact over non-social network mediums than closer friends,

who may say each other in person much more often, which would increase the probability on the denominator portion of the lift ratio for close friends.