It's all about who you know...

I had never heard of the “Keep Austin Weird” campaign until class on Tuesday, but I find it really interesting. I’m all for keeping the integrity of small towns, but I also love the fact that when I’m at home, I have my choice of three Targets in short driving distance. In my hometown, despite the fact that we have two Starbucks a block away from each other and a Subway right next to a Quizno’s, there was a heated debate over whether or not a Borders should be opened. The fear was that it would out-compete a locally owned bookstore. Personally, I wanted the Borders because I don’t like the locally owned bookstore—it’s over-priced and they wouldn’t offer me a summer job.

Anyways, I think that the PowerPoint presentations we made really highlighted the importance of connections in a network. In Austin, it was very beneficial to the people who were starting off the campaign to have a lot of important connections. Without those connections, they would not have been able to spread the word or expose their merchandise, such as the bumper stickers. The use of the internet was definitely a catalyst in the spread of the network because, without it, it would have taken a very long time to gain support for “Keep Austin Weird.”

Although those Texans were able to use connections for a good cause, Albert-Laszlo’ Barabási mentioned several negative outcomes of living in such a highly connected society in his book, “Linked: The New Science of Networks.” Barabási looks at the example of how the spread of HIV in North America was partly due to the promiscuity of one man, Gaetan Dugas. Barabási uses the term, “hub” to describe Duga’s role in the HIV “network” since he seemed to have spread the virus through over 2,500 sexual connections.

Barabási compares the spread of HIV to the spread of computer viruses through e-mail. Once a virus hits a hub, or a person that has a ton of links in their address book, the virus can be spread to hundreds, and then thousands of computers. It is for this reason that it is difficult, if not impossible, to get rid of even the least contagious viruses.

I think that it is kind of scary how fast anything from a simple e-mail to a fatal virus can be spread today. It is also scary to think that you don’t really have control over what networks you belong to. I have no control over who puts my e-mail or screenname in their address book or buddy list. Also, I have no way of knowing if one of my “connections” could be considered a hub in a network. I think that we are so quick to assume that being so highly connected as a good thing, but I never really thought of the consequences until I read Barabási.