Calling all connections: What social networks can teach us about society

To provide a platform for researchers from diverse fields to discuss their work and explore collaborations, the Living Analytics Research Centre (LARC) at SMU recently organised a Social Networks Day Workshop to look into the influence of social networks and its widespread applications. It is hoped that by studying its shapes, sizes and spheres of influence, researchers can gain insights into topics as diverse as societal cohesion, the inner workings of terrorists groups and the ability to research funding to drive scientific collaborations. The workshop featured speakers from diverse fields such as computer science, sociology, engineering and mathematics. “While most studies of social media networks consider only one platform, the reality is that social media is now so pervasive that many people have accounts across multiple platforms,” said LARC Director and Professor of Information Systems Lim Ee-Peng in his talk ‘User Linkage in Online Social Networks’.