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Review
‘“Connected” succeeds because it articulates a truth about our collective self that has previously been little understood.’ Irish Times
‘What makes us human – for good and bad – is our social nature. Nowhere is this complex, wonderful, and sometimes dark part of us more clearly revealed than in “Connected”. In a social world exploding with new ways to interact, “Connected” is a user’s guide for ourselves in the 21st century.’ Dan Ariely, bestselling author of ‘Predictably Irrational’
‘Christakis and Fowler have written THE book on the exciting new science of social networks. With passion and precision, these two internationally renowned scientists expose the invisible webs that connect each of us to the other, and in so doing cast our lives here together in an astonishing new light. We think we are individuals who control our own fates, but as Christakis and Fowler demonstrate, we are merely cells in the nervous system of a much greater beast. If someone you barely know reads “Connected”, it could change your life forever. How? Read it yourself and find out.’ Daniel Gilbert, bestselling author of ‘Stumbling on Happiness’
Product Description
Who do you have sex with and why? Is happiness catching? Is wealth contagious? Can your friends make you fat? Why do you bother to vote? Does free will exist? Your friend’s friend starts smoking, suddenly you find yourself reaching for a cigarette. But how can someone you’ll never know make you fatter, happier and have more sex?
This brilliantly original exploration of ‘social contagion’ examines the power of social networks to influence our behaviour. We like to think that we are largely in control of our day-to-day lives, yet most of what we do, from what we eat to who we sleep with, and even the way we feel, is significantly influenced by those around us – and those around them, and those around them. Our actions can change the behaviours, the beliefs, and even the basic health of people we’ve never met.
In their illuminating account of the pervasive and often bizarre qualities of social networks, pre-eminent social scientists Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler explain why obesity is contagious, why the rich get richer, even how we find and choose our partners. Intriguing and entertaining, with revelatory implications for everything from our notion of the individual to ideas about healthcare and social inequality CONNECTED will change the way you think about every aspect of your life.
This brilliantly original exploration of ‘social contagion’ examines the power of social networks to influence our behaviour. We like to think that we are largely in control of our day-to-day lives, yet most of what we do, from what we eat to who we sleep with, and even the way we feel, is significantly influenced by those around us – and those around them, and those around them. Our actions can change the behaviours, the beliefs, and even the basic health of people we’ve never met.
In their illuminating account of the pervasive and often bizarre qualities of social networks, pre-eminent social scientists Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler explain why obesity is contagious, why the rich get richer, even how we find and choose our partners. Intriguing and entertaining, with revelatory implications for everything from our notion of the individual to ideas about healthcare and social inequality CONNECTED will change the way you think about every aspect of your life.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
45 of 49 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
I picked up this book after reading a synopsis of the content in one of the 'lite' science magazines. On reading the book I was disappointed to see the magazine's two page article had been a perfect synopsis and there was no further depth in the book.
That's the problem, this book is very light reading. There's nothing new here, just observations of well-know social experiments (even if you haven't heard of Stanley Milgram you'll recognise his famed experiments), and well documented social phenomenon. There's no real discussion of 'hows and whys'. In many places it reads like a teen interest magazine feature.
If you've never, ever considered that your life/actions impact upon other people then this is a good place to start, but if you've realised that being around miserable people makes you miserable you've pretty much exceeded the book already.
(NB - Less than glowing Amazon Vine reviews generally get hit hard with the `no' button for the question `Was this review helpful to you?'. This doesn't bother me a jot.)
That's the problem, this book is very light reading. There's nothing new here, just observations of well-know social experiments (even if you haven't heard of Stanley Milgram you'll recognise his famed experiments), and well documented social phenomenon. There's no real discussion of 'hows and whys'. In many places it reads like a teen interest magazine feature.
If you've never, ever considered that your life/actions impact upon other people then this is a good place to start, but if you've realised that being around miserable people makes you miserable you've pretty much exceeded the book already.
(NB - Less than glowing Amazon Vine reviews generally get hit hard with the `no' button for the question `Was this review helpful to you?'. This doesn't bother me a jot.)
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The raise of the internet has precipitated the increase of public's interest in networks and many books have come out in recent years that explore this new fascination. Most of these books, however, focus on some very trite and visible aspect of the web networks, and don't delve deeper into the more subtle and nonobvious properties of networks. In the light of that the strength of "Connected" is that it heavily relies on well established scientific research and presents it in an accessible fashion that still does full justice to the topic. Both authors are themselves prominent researchers in the field, and this fact helps with the choice and presentation of topics. The particular focus on social networks is very timely in the light of recent explosion of online social networks. However, social networks have been around for a very long time. In fact, there have been some evolutionary theories that suggest that our rise as a species has been to a large extent spurred by the need to manage large social networks.
The book provides many interesting and nontrivial insights into what sorts of social networks are most beneficial in certain circumstances, and which ones on the other hand can have the most deleterious effects, such as in cases of spreading of diseases. One of the more pleasant aspects of this book has been the more positive attitude towards the role of religion in society that is not simplistic and provides us with some useful new insights and ways of looking at religion. For instance, from the purely social-networking point of view God can be viewed as a node in a network that is equally distant from all other nodes - individual believers in this case. This provides us with a useful new paradigm, and it would be interesting to see if other social researchers would employ it in their investigations and analyses of religion in the upcoming years.
If you are looking for a well-researched and accessible book on social networks, this is probably the best one that has been on the market thus far.
The book provides many interesting and nontrivial insights into what sorts of social networks are most beneficial in certain circumstances, and which ones on the other hand can have the most deleterious effects, such as in cases of spreading of diseases. One of the more pleasant aspects of this book has been the more positive attitude towards the role of religion in society that is not simplistic and provides us with some useful new insights and ways of looking at religion. For instance, from the purely social-networking point of view God can be viewed as a node in a network that is equally distant from all other nodes - individual believers in this case. This provides us with a useful new paradigm, and it would be interesting to see if other social researchers would employ it in their investigations and analyses of religion in the upcoming years.
If you are looking for a well-researched and accessible book on social networks, this is probably the best one that has been on the market thus far.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Connected covers a large topic of networks, communities and relationships. In it are some real eye openers on how ideas spread, social proof and "buzz". It reads very much like a text book and this is backed up by the high volume of citations. For a marketer or a sociology researcher, it does contain a lot of material that could by used. My main criticism is that it is not an easy read. The volume of facts soon move it from a casual pick and put down to an academic tome.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Popular science book (like Blink and Freakonomics)
"Connected" bills itself as a popular science book in the vein of "Blink" and "Freakonomics". So if you liked those books, you'll enjoy this one. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Jayne in London
An Interesting Introduction
I came to this book as a complete novice in social psychology and found it to be an interesting introduction to the ideas behind social networking and the power and influences of... Read more
Published 17 months ago by L. M. Cowan
A little shallow
Books about social psychology and the social networks that shape our current conceptions of life are tremendously timely, what with movies like the Social Network raising awareness... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Mr. Michael Heron
Too little info dragged out too slowly
Like some of the other reviews I found that I had been 'conned' into reading this by a great article in a magazine. Read more
Published 19 months ago by L. Day
A great pop-sociology read
I cant really understand some of the negative reviews of this book since I found that it was broad in scope and interesting in just how it managed to apply the networking research... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Lark
Very poor
A lot of descriptions of other people's research into group behaviour; many statements of 'possible', 'may', 'might' and 'it seems likely' with respect to supposed explanations for... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Mrs. Margaret Gallaghrt
I agree with the majority of reviewers...
Like quite a few reviewers, I found this book superficially interesting but not a life-changing bombshell. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Morena
Good one, but it took too long to arrive
The book is in perfect conditions, but I had to wait 2 weeks or so.
Published 24 months ago by Jose Carlos Moron Iraculis
Interesting but...
Connected is pitched at the audience of popular social science books like the author Malcolm Gladwell's, or economics such as Freakonomics. Read more
Published on 18 May 2010 by Stucumber
Fascinating
A fascinating and engaging read. The science is mind boggling, and really well explained. I learnt a lot and couldn't put it down. Read more
Published on 15 May 2010 by BB
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