The Rules of Contagion

you care about can be beneficial,’ Ginsburg and Burke suggested,
‘while simply watching others from the sidelines may make you feel
worse.’[128]
The ability to test common theories about human behaviour is a
big advantage of online studies. In the past decade or so,
researchers have used massive datasets to question long-standing
ideas about the spread of information. This research has already
challenged misconceptions about online influence, popularity, and
success. It’s even overturned the very concept of something ‘going
viral’. Online methods are also finding their way back into disease
analysis; by adapting techniques used to study online memes,
malaria researchers have found new ways to track the spread of
disease in Central America.[129]
Social media might be the most prominent way our interactions
have changed, but it’s not the only network that’s been growing in our
lives. As we shall see in the next chapter, technological connections
are expanding in other ways, with new links permeating through our
daily routines. Such technology can be hugely beneficial, but it can
also create new risks. In the world of outbreaks, every new
connection is a potential new route of contagion.