Social Networks and Digital Experimentation

How do new technologies and new means of social interaction and contagion impact productivity, consumer demand, political mobilization, and public health? How is human persuasion and behavior change caused by interactive technologies? The IDE examines the profound impact social behavior and digital experimentation has on our lives, including how it affects aspects such as political mobilization, consumer demand, information sharing, worker productivity, and even stock prices. Through our research, we show how social networks can improve social and business policy through a dramatic new scientific understanding of human behavior. Recent projects include a study of how social media can help proactively manage epidemics through social media, as well as how mobilization and tracking impact voter democratization. We conduct our research using applied statistics, experimental design, machine learning, and causal inference.