A November 26th, 2009, column in The Los Angeles Times, titled “A Connected Life is a Great Gift” discusses the importance of social networks during the holiday season. The authors James H. Fowler and Nicholas A. Christakis summarize some of the findings presented in their new book Connected, focusing how at this time of the year, keeping your friends and family around is important. They write:
“Recent research has shown that we would rather give an anonymous gift to a friend who will never repay us than give a gift to a stranger who will. The reason is that we give to sustain our network. In fact, the natural advantages of a connected life explain why social networks have been with us for hundreds of thousands of years. So as we gather for the holidays, it is important to consider the extraordinary power of our social networks. We not only help ourselves by staying connected, we also help our whole community.”
