Decoding the Social World: Data Science and the Unintended Consequences of Communication

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Sandra González-Bailón (University of Pennsylvania)

Decoding the Social World

Data Science and the Unintended Consequences of Communication

Sandra González-Bailón (University of Pennsylvania)

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English

MIT Press
22 December 2017

Communication studies; Data mining; Human-computer interaction

Series: Information Policy

How data science and the analysis of networks help us solve the puzzle of unintended consequences.

Social life is full of paradoxes. Our intentional actions often trigger outcomes that we did not intend or even envision. How do we explain those unintended effects and what can we do to regulate them? In Decoding the Social World, Sandra Gonzalez-Bail n explains how data science and digital traces help us solve the puzzle of unintended consequences-offering the solution to a social paradox that has intrigued thinkers for centuries. Communication has always been the force that makes a collection of people more than the sum of individuals, but only now can we explain why- digital technologies have made it possible to parse the information we generate by being social in new, imaginative ways. And yet we must look at that data, Gonzalez-Bail n argues, through the lens of theories that capture the nature of social life. The technologies we use, in the end, are also a manifestation of the social world we inhabit.

Gonzalez-Bail n discusses how the unpredictability of social life relates to communication networks, social influence, and the unintended effects that derive from individual decisions. She describes how communication generates social dynamics in aggregate (leading to episodes of ""collective effervescence"") and discusses the mechanisms that underlie large-scale diffusion, when information and behavior spread ""like wildfire."" She applies the theory of networks to illuminate why collective outcomes can differ drastically even when they arise from the same individual actions. By opening the black box of unintended effects, Gonzalez-Bail n identifies strategies for social intervention and discusses the policy implications-and how data science and evidence-based research embolden critical thinking in a world that is constantly changing.

By: Sandra González-Bailón (University of Pennsylvania)
Imprint: MIT Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 13mm
ISBN: 9780262037075
ISBN 10: 0262037076
Series: Information Policy
Pages: 256
Publication Date: 22 December 2017
Recommended Age: From 18 years
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Sandra Gonzalez-Bail n is Assistant Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, and Research Associate at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford.