Most people's friends have more friends than they do, because popular people appear in more friend lists.
Feld's 1991 result, and it is a mathematical necessity rather than a psychological finding. Popular people appear in more friendship lists, so sampling by friendship oversamples them.
In practice
- A conference organiser concludes attendance is disappointing because everyone she asks knows people who went to a bigger one.
- A gym member feels unusually unfit because the people at the gym are the fit ones, and the unfit are at home.
- Further reading
- Wikipedia
- Subject
- Networks & Collective Behavior
- Essay
- How connections shape what crowds do