Fire Trucks and the Doppler Effect When we hear a fire-truck’s siren, we hear the Doppler effect. The sound of the siren starts out high, then as the fire-truck approaches, the pitch decreases. At some moment, the truck will neither be approaching or receding from you. At that moment, the pitch will be equal to [...]

During the past few days, I’ve looked at the need to look at the momentum of ties within a social network–are they convergent or divergent? Well, let’s take that model a step further and look at radial vectors. Two people can start out converging but eventually diverge. That’s because it’s rare that two people converge [...]

Yesterday, I raised questions about momentum within social networks. Today, let’s explore some models. Basic Connections Let’s say that you and I are connected within a social network. Together, we share a bond: Strong tie (we’ve been close friends for years) Weak tie (we are passing acquaintances only). In this example, I’m using a solid [...]

In 1973, Dr. Mark Granovetter wrote about the Strength of Weak Ties–especially how it impacts an individual’s ability to find a job. It’s a powerful study that changed how people think about social networks. Over time, social network analysis began to look at issues of network closure, density, and reach. Modern social graphs present an [...]