These data, which describe the networks of people’s social worlds, as well as people’s behaviour and social contacts, seem to hold great promise for firms. 
Firms may wish to use them to decide who to do business with (targeting), or to encourage the spread of a product or idea through a population (diffusion). 

This lecture discusses the economic value of social network data. To what extent do products spread "virally" over online social networks and to what extent do social network data complement traditional predictive models.

This lecture is a cooperation between the Maastricht University School of Business and Economics, Studium Generale and SCOPE | Economics. It is part of the “Celebrating 30 Years of Inspiration” program, with which the SBE is celebrating its 30th anniversary.