Balancing systematic and flexible exploration of social networks

Adam Perer1, Ben Shneiderman

  • 1Department of Computer Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA. adamp@cs.umd.edu

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What do you think is the single most influential factor in determining with whom you become friends and whom you form romantic relationships? You might be surprised to learn that the answer is simple: the people with whom you have the most contact. This most important factor is proximity. You are more likely to be friends with people you have regular contact with. For example, there are decades of research that shows that you are more likely to become friends with people who live in your dorm,...
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