Influence of Social Networks is Positive Too

Inspired by the collected data of 5,124 people in the Framingham Heart Study in 1948, Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler found that the study notes included subjects’ family and friends. After 5 years of extracting the data in the notes, the two researchers discovered that the entire social network of the small town was thoroughly chronicled within the notes.

Branching outside the original intent of the study, Christakis and Fowler found that behaviors were influenced more by social connections than hereditary predisposition. For instance, it was more likely – 171 percent more likely – for a person to become obese if people close to them became fat. The condition actually spread like a virus.

"Your friends who live far away have just as big an impact on your behavior as friends who live next door," Fowler says. "Even if you see a friend only once a year, that friend will still change your sense of what's appropriate. And that new norm will influence what you do."

The influence of close relationships on a person regardless of physical distance led the two to look into the impact of online social interactions on individual behavior. While most people have an average of 6 close friends, that social trait is not altered by the average 110 ‘friends’ a Facebook user has. Using data of a university’s student population of Facebook users, they found that close friendships were maintained along with a higher level of connection between “acquaintances,” regardless of distance.

The network of influence seems to be limited to three degrees: an individual’s behavior, or tendency to become overweight or quit smoking, is limited to what a friend of a friend of a friend does. Beyond that, the influence stops.

If a Facebook user is happy, the usual is to post a smiling photo, and friends will follow suit. And that happiness spreads. Cut off from social networking ties, a person will slip into loneliness, despair and depression.

"Your friends might make you sick and cause you to gain weight," Christakis says, "but they're also a source of tremendous happiness. When it comes to social networks, the positives outweigh the negatives. That's why networks are everywhere."

Selleck ‘Duped’ into Buying Lame Horse?

And a San Diego court agrees enough to award Tom Selleck $187,000 to cover his purchase price and board for the horse. Next week, the court will hear the case to award punitive damages.

According to news reports, Del Mar equestrian Delores Cuenca conned Selleck into buying a horse called Zorro, a 10 year old that was fit for competitions. As it turns out, the horse is lame.

The details are spotty in all the reports, but one thing is certain: Selleck knows horses, and knows enough to check medical records, which he didn’t do. A simple pre-purchase exam would’ve prevented this courtroom drama.

Electric Bills Lower in Shaky Economy

It takes the loss of 15 million jobs to lower electricity bills. For the first time since 1949, power bills have declined for two consecutive years by 1.6 percent last year, and this year the decline may reach up to 2.7 percent.

According to Mark Williams, AP energy writer, the relief in energy bills is based on a large decrease in energy demand. He believes this unusual drop in power usage is glaring evidence of the depth of the economic recession.

The drop in power demand comes from the manufacturing sector, estimated to be 10 percent. The industrial sector dropped 20 percent in parts of the south. What this translates to is lower or flattening electric bills for household consumers.

Enjoy it while you can. If/when the economy rebounds, your power bill goes up again along with it.