Measuring the value of accurate link prediction for network seeding

Merging two classic questions The influence-maximization literature seeks small sets of individuals whose structural placement in the social network can drive large cascades of behavior. Optimization efforts to find the best seed set often assume perfect knowledge of the network topology. Unfortunately, social network links are rarely known in an exact way. When do seeding strategies based on less-than-accurate link prediction provide valuable insight? Our contribution We introduce optimized-against-a-sample (OAS) performance to measure the value of optimizing seeding based on a noisy observation of a network. Our computational study investigates OAS under several threshold-spread models in synthetic and real-world networks. Our focus is on measuring the value of imprecise link information. The level of investment in link prediction that is strategic appears to depend closely on spread model: in some parameter ranges investments in improving link prediction can pay substantial premiums in cascade size. For other ranges, such investments would be wasted. Several trends were remarkably consistent across topologies

Institutional Work and Artifact Evolution

How artifacts come to persist is a neglected area in organizational theory. In IS, Lucas et al. (2007) stress implementation research that takes the long view, but little is known about maintenance practices. Using Lawrence et al. (2009) institutional work framework, we analyze stakeholder efforts to stabilize and now maintain the Urban-net, a broadband network. We track it from inception through design stabilization to post-stabilization. Empirically, we add to research on the neglected area of maintenance work. Re: theory, our contributions are two-fold. First, we distinguish artifact stabilization from maintenance, a distinction Lawrence et al. (2009) ignore. Bijker’s (1997) idea of stabilization offers a way to think about the two. The temporal and relational scope of the effort involved, we show, can be different. Second, we adapt the term gardening from Olsen (2003) to characterize the multi-stranded nature of maintenance, involving efforts to preserve while also amending the Urban-net