Inferring friendship network structure by using mobile phone data
Name
Eagle-2009-Inferring friendship.pdf
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1.29 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
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Author(s)
Eagle, Nathan N.
Lazer, David
Pentland, Alex Paul
Date Issued
August 2009
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Publisher
United States National Academy of Sciences
Citation
Eagle, Nathan, Alex (Sandy) Pentland, and David Lazer. “Inferring friendship network structure by using mobile phone data.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106.36 (2009): 15274-15278. © 2009 National Academy of Sciences
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Data collected from mobile phones have the potential to provide insight into the relational dynamics of individuals. This paper compares observational data from mobile phones with standard self-report survey data. We find that the information from these two data sources is overlapping but distinct. For example, self-reports of physical proximity deviate from mobile phone records depending on the recency and salience of the interactions. We also demonstrate that it is possible to accurately infer 95% of friendships based on the observational data alone, where friend dyads demonstrate distinctive temporal and spatial patterns in their physical proximity and calling patterns. These behavioral patterns, in turn, allow the prediction of individual-level outcomes such as job satisfaction.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Media Laboratory
Program in Media Arts and Sciences (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
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DOI of Published Version
http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0900282106
