Duncan Watts - Principal Research Scientist

Profile

Duncan Watts is principal research scientist at Yahoo! Research, where he directs the Human Social Dynamics group. He is also professor of sociology at Columbia University, and an external faculty member of the Santa Fe Institute. His research on social networks and collective dynamics has appeared in a wide range of journals, from Nature, Science, and Physical Review Letters to the American Journal of Sociology. He is also the author of Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age (W.W. Norton, 2003) and Small Worlds: The Dynamics of Networks between Order and Randomness (Princeton University Press, 1999). He holds a B.Sc. in Physics from the University of New South Wales, and Ph.D. in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from Cornell University.

Recent Publications, Projects and News

  • Friend Sense - How well do you really know your friends? Guess their views on life, politics and relationships. Answer questions about yourself and find out who knows you best!
  • Big Thinkers India Series – Duncan Watts - Duncan Watts was the latest speaker in the Yahoo! Big Thinkers India series. His talk, entitled “Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age” drew a record number of attendees – over 700 – including people from tech R&D, start-ups and academia.
  • Social networks not yet compelling - Bengaluru, Sept. 10: The Facebook ‘junkie’ would vouch for it but there are an equally large number of people who feel social networking sites are garbage. They don’t understand what it is; don’t know what to do with it, and often struggle to understand if they are useful at all.
  • Is the Tipping Point Toast? - Marketers spend a billion dollars a year targeting influentials. Duncan Watts says they're wasting their money.