If your friends are happy, it turns out that you're more likely to be happy too. If your friends are overweight, that too ups the likelihood that you'll pack on pounds.
The researchers analyzed the running activity of more than a million individuals worldwide who used an exercise tracking device for five years. They used weather patterns as a way to randomly examine different parts of that global network. On average, fine days would encourage people to run more, rainy or cold days less.
Since different cities have different weather patterns, this natural experiment allowed them to ask: Did a rainy day in New York affect running in San Diego? If the weather in New York caused changes in the running behavior in San Diego, it could possibly happen through peer influences of the friends. The behavior of one city's runners could indeed affect the behavior of runners in another socially connected city.
Women tended to be influenced more by the female runners in their networks. And less active runners tended to influence more active runners to run more, but not so much the other way around."We have to start thinking about consumers and citizens as networked consumers and citizens. Since they are easily influenced by and influence their social network in very strong and dynamic ways, it will change the way a particular intervention succeeds or fails." Sinan Aral, the leading researcher said.
Or, let's put it this way. Next time, the doctors recommend people to do more exercise.
A. There were a few more findings. B. That was exactly what the researchers saw. C. More difficulties remained to be worked out. D. They will tell the same to their friends and family, too. E. The result provides some practical guidance for professionals. F. Runners in one city would run as much as peers in another city. G. Now researchers have identified another similar quality: exercise. |
