Knowledge trumps popularity in the long haul of trying to be influential, Stanford University researchers say
When it comes to social climbing, it’s not who you know, or how many people you know, it’s about knowing who knows whom, research suggests.
Experts studying social connections made by first year university students say those who ended up with the most influence were not necessarily the most popular, but those who had a good idea, early on, about who belonged to which clique or community.
“Having friends helps, but social influence isn’t just about who you know – it’s also about what you know about the rest of your social network,” said Isabella Aslarus, first author of the study from Stanford University.
Writing in the journal Science Advances, researchers in the US report how they asked 187 students to complete surveys about who they were friends with at six different points during their first year at university. The team used the results to map the connections between individuals, and how these changed with time.
