Detecting Patterns in Complex Social Networks

Roland Piquepaille writes "So-called social networking is very popular these days, as show the proliferation of services like Friendster, Orkut and dozens of others. But do the companies behind these services have any idea of what is hidden inside their complicated networks? When these networks reach a size of millions of users, it's not an easy task. A researcher at the University of Michigan is trying to help, with a new method for uncovering patterns in complicated networks, from football conferences to food webs. This overview contains more details and references about this non-traditional method. It also includes a spectacular representation of the Internet and another image showing a food web at Little Rock Lake."

The only pattern I've noticed...

[Wireless Joe]

Is the pattern of footprints on my bum, back and the top of my head.

Studing the internet as a social network

[osullish]

I think if the internet was studied as a social network, on might find that someone like Janet Jackson was the core of society :-)

What it doesn't say:

[rufusdufus]

A researcher at the University of Michigan is trying to help who?

Searching usefulness?

[Bobdoer]

I wonder if this will improve search results? All the fake porn sites will be lumped together, thus, hopefully, taking them out of regular, useful searches.

Re:The only pattern I've noticed...

[Anonymous Coward]

Be patient. They will get to everyone, including you and your life partner, before tomorrow's court hearing.

Re:Slashdot?.....

[Anonymous Coward]

Obviously they are doing this, I mean that is why we get such shoddy editing sometimes, like duplicate posts and the like. They are trying to discover the meaning to life and the universe by studying /.

If only they would read some of the comments and realize that the answer is 42, they might be able to work faster backwards from the answer.

Re:What it doesn't say:

[Anonymous Coward]

Privacy miners and spammers of course!

Social Networks?

[98jonesd]

They token rings or Star networks?

High school dating chart

[ThomK]

The blue node (left center) in this [umich.edu] diagram was gettin' some action!

Finally, something useful

[TopShelf]

The researchers tested their method on several networks for which the structure was already known---college football conferences, for example. In college football, teams in the same conference face off more frequently than teams in different conferences. When inter-conference games do occur, they're more likely to be between teams that are geographically close together than between teams that are far apart. Plugging in information on frequency of games between pairs of teams in the 2000 regular season, Newman and Girvan tested their method to see if it could correctly sort the colleges into conferences. "There were a few cases where it made mistakes, but it got well over 90 percent of them right," said Newman. "It gave us the structure we were expecting, so that was encouraging."

Finally, something that can help me understand the divisions in the NHL. I've been confused ever since they got rid of Smythe, Norris, and all the rest...

Re:High school dating chart

[ThomK]

Although it is difficult to tell how attractive all those pink nodes are..

Wow

[SpaceRook]

I didn't know Jackson Pollack designed the internet.

Re:oh my.. the high-school friend one..

[bughunter]

Actually, that graph is from a study of STD transmission among high school students [washington.edu], so no, I don't feel so bad for them after all, presuming that, to be on that graph, you had to be getting some to begin with.

n degrees of separation

[rqqrtnb]

I wonder whether they'll finally be able to (dis)prove the hypothesis that everybody knows everybody else within six (or however many) degrees of separation.

Then again, most people will probably have a connection to Nigeria due to the certain organ-lengthening drug that they are so famous for.

Football? Friends?

[The Wing Lover]

Are we sure this is Slashdot?

Oh, there it is, "..to food webs".

Highschool Friendships

[barryfandango]

Check out the "highschool friendships [umich.edu]" diagram.

I think I was the yellow dot on the far left.

Re:n degrees of separation

[dimss]

I wonder whether they'll finally be able to (dis)prove the hypothesis that everybody knows everybody else within six (or however many) degrees of separation.

I have heard about it too. In fact, there are two persons between me and Vladimir Putin or Bill Clinton, and only three persons between me and Monica Levinsky...

Re:What it doesn't say:

[gd23ka]

Why zhe Offize ov Heimatlandschutz (OHS), ov kourse! :-) :-)

Re:High school dating chart

[Anonymous Coward]

How about the group in the mid right side of the loop? Pink on pink action!!

Re:Astounding social implications.

[barryfandango]

Being socially disenfranchised is looking more attractive all the time.

Been There, Done That

[Guppy06]

And his name is Kevin Bacon.

My experience

[Sideshow Coward]

Unfortunately, then only pattern in my social network is the singleton pattern.

You are here

[HarveyBirdman]

I'm that little disconnected node way over in the dark corner. :-(

I'm New Here

[New Here]

I'm New Here

Re:oh my.. the high-school friend one..

[zootread]

Ok, this [umich.edu] is the graph of STD transmission among high school students [216.239.37.104].

Check out that stud on the left who is banging like 8 different girls.

Re:Searching usefulness?

[RetroGeek]

fake porn sites

So that's like, what, pictures of dressed people?

Introverster: the new way to get rid of people.

[Speequinox]

Introvertster [airbag.ca]

a view from the future

[argStyopa]

A researcher at the University of Michigan... ... a bright, promising freshman by the name of Hari Seldon....

Let's use this information...

[reiggin]

... to develop a psychohistory model!