Pretty frequently I get asked (usually by my wife) - "where do you come up with this stuff...can't you watch Deal-No Deal like a normal person?"
While there's a lot of great material on Social Networks and Social Network Analysis available there are a few books that seem to be referenced by others over and over again. Three that I have found pretty insightful are shown: Social Network Analysis is a great nuts-and-bolts introduction to SNA graphs; how they are constructed and what they mean. The Wisdom of Crowds is an excellent piece of writing (I wish I could write like that!) that paints a picture of how people behave in groups. Finally there's Rob Cross's The Hidden Power of Social Networks which has recently done more than any other to bring SNA into public conciousness.
For desert there's Nexus - another well written page-turner with a great introduction to the "small world" effect.
I'll appreciate any and all feedback on this selection.
2 comments:
Andy - Personally I found the books Linked: How Everything Is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means by Albert-Laszlo Barabasi, and Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age by Duncan J. Watts to be better introductory books to social networking and the small-world effect in particular.
I enjoyed Nexus as well, but it didn't quite come to life as well as the two above books.
I'd suggest Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner as another must-read - I'd put it off because it seemed to be way too popular to be any good, but once I picked it up recently, I consumed it in a day or two on my daily train commute. It's very good - and I have pretty high standards on my reading materials.
I have a giant reading list that I can tie through one tangent or another (another network) that I'd be happy to share on- or off-line as well.
Incidentally, I've been covering Social Networking for a few years now, and most recently did 2 podcasts/interviews (audio and transcribed) with Konstantin Guericke of LinkedIn on a few SN-topics.
You can find those at my blog.
A more recent book that's great on looking at why some companies (any kind of node) acts as a hub in a network is The Keystone Advantage by Iansiti and Levien.
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