It's the company you keep! (updated 2014)

(Christakis and Fowler 2008)

I've been directing people to the short article below since it first appeared on the Edge.org site almost two years ago. On the surface it's just a small investigation of a few hundred of the early student users of facebook - but give it some thought and a second read and the implications are enormous. Much of my writing on this blog insists that the real world, along with the virtual one, is like the article describes. Mental distress is made and unmade everyday through our interaction with others. When it persists for long periods we become progressively more isolated. Mapping social networks suggest how such a process works.

Social Networks and Happiness

(Nick Christakis homepage, and on video How social networks predict epidemics plus The hidden  influence of social networks)