PITCH: Does your dog Tweet? Is your parakeet posting on Facebook? In the traditional sense, probably not, but two University of Louisville researchers say the animal kingdom does use social networks to live, thrive and survive.
UofL biology professor Lee Alan Dugatkin and graduate student Matthew Hasenjager studied social interaction in a variety of animals – from guppies to elephants – and learned that animals communicate via social networks in many of the same ways humans interact on Twitter and Facebook. Their findings were published in the June edition of Scientific American.
According to Dugatkin, the metrics used to measure a person’s influence on social networks (number of friends/followers) is also used in animal social networks.
“Facebook and Twitter have an analytical component that tracks influencers,” Dugatkin says. “Certain "nodes" - well-known celebrities, for example -- have a disproportionate effect on how information circulates. The holds true for animal networks, where certain key players -- sometimes the most aggressive, sometimes the most cooperative – have a direct information flow within networks."
Dugatkin is available to media for phone, satellite and Skype interviews. He can be reached via email or by phone at 502-558-5634. If he is not immediately available contact Matt Lambert at 504-250-6794 or [email protected]. To learn more, listen to the Scientific American podcast with Steve Mirsky.
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