How does social network structure amplify or stifle behavior diffusion? Turns out, complex contagions are more complicated than we thought … (1/7)

The basic pattern is a tradeoff: reaching more people via random ties or exploit social reinforcement via clustered ties. Paper with Allison Wan @davidlazer @criedl (7/7).

Clustered networks are even less advantageous when individuals in the network are connected to more people, can influence their neighbors for longer periods of time, or when they require more adopting neighbors to benefit for social reinforcement (6/7).

While faster spread on clustered networks is possible it does not represent the dominant pattern. Social reinforcement is necessary but insufficient condition for clustered network to diffuse better but faster spread on clustered networks is no test for social reinforcement (5/7).

Even with strong social reinforcement random networks spread behavior better than clustered networks. Clustered networks outspread random networks in only a small region of the space we model and mostly only when behavior is near deterministic (4/7)

We develop a novel model of behavior diffusion with tunable probabilistic adoption and social reinforcement parameters that contains many prior diffusion models as special cases (3/7)

Complex contagion theory suggests socially reinforced behaviors spread more on clustered networks. But when spread is modeled with realistic probabilistic adoption, in most cases behaviors spread equally-if not better-on random networks (2/7).

RT @nikhil07prakash: We constructed CausalToM, a dataset suitable for causal analysis, that consists of simple stories where two characters….

Join us for our “Human-AI Teaming for People and Planet,” workshop at the CI'25 in San Diego

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RT @WFUEconomics: 📢 Join us for the first Spring 2025 VIDE seminar!.📅 Feb 5 | 11 AM ET.🎙 Joel Waldfogel (Minnesota) on information & welfar….

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AI has effect on worker compensation not only for supply-demand reasons but also psychological ones: people reduce worker compensation just for using AI