Lionel Page

Even another thing which is very interesting on social media, I guess you have heard of it, like the friendship paradox. Do you know this thing, the friendship paradox? No, tell me more. Okay, the friendship paradox is something which happens in networks. When you're in a network, your friends, on average, have more friends than you.

So if you're on Twitter, the people you follow have more followers than you have. If you're on YouTube, the stuff you follow on average has more subscribers than you have. So that sounds strange. How is it possible? Shouldn't it be on average? On average, we have the same. No, because the people you select to follow or to be your friends, they are selected.

So if you're on Twitter, the people you follow have more followers than you have. If you're on YouTube, the stuff you follow on average has more subscribers than you have. So that sounds strange. How is it possible? Shouldn't it be on average? On average, we have the same. No, because the people you select to follow or to be your friends, they are selected.

So if you're on Twitter, the people you follow have more followers than you have. If you're on YouTube, the stuff you follow on average has more subscribers than you have. So that sounds strange. How is it possible? Shouldn't it be on average? On average, we have the same. No, because the people you select to follow or to be your friends, they are selected.

And you have not selected the people with the least friends. You have selected people who tend to have more friends. And the fact that you selected them is an indication that they are selected. And so when you look into your circle of friends on social media, you'll find, wow, why don't I have, you know, I have so many followers and these guys are like, you know, super popular.

And you have not selected the people with the least friends. You have selected people who tend to have more friends. And the fact that you selected them is an indication that they are selected. And so when you look into your circle of friends on social media, you'll find, wow, why don't I have, you know, I have so many followers and these guys are like, you know, super popular.

And you have not selected the people with the least friends. You have selected people who tend to have more friends. And the fact that you selected them is an indication that they are selected. And so when you look into your circle of friends on social media, you'll find, wow, why don't I have, you know, I have so many followers and these guys are like, you know, super popular.

Well, I'm not as popular as that. So the funny thing is that whatever network you'll be, you will not be as popular as the average popularity of the people in your network. So that's another thing which is not intuitive, but it will make your reference point higher. And in comparison, you won't look as good. Yeah.

Well, I'm not as popular as that. So the funny thing is that whatever network you'll be, you will not be as popular as the average popularity of the people in your network. So that's another thing which is not intuitive, but it will make your reference point higher. And in comparison, you won't look as good. Yeah.

Well, I'm not as popular as that. So the funny thing is that whatever network you'll be, you will not be as popular as the average popularity of the people in your network. So that's another thing which is not intuitive, but it will make your reference point higher. And in comparison, you won't look as good. Yeah.

Yeah, so that's a paradox of the fact that we always want to go higher. When we are in a peer group or in a club, we tend often to look for the next club, the most prestigious club. Academics, for instance, they want to be in prestigious universities. Well, the cost of it is that whenever you move to another one, which is more prestigious, your colleagues...

Yeah, so that's a paradox of the fact that we always want to go higher. When we are in a peer group or in a club, we tend often to look for the next club, the most prestigious club. Academics, for instance, they want to be in prestigious universities. Well, the cost of it is that whenever you move to another one, which is more prestigious, your colleagues...

Yeah, so that's a paradox of the fact that we always want to go higher. When we are in a peer group or in a club, we tend often to look for the next club, the most prestigious club. Academics, for instance, they want to be in prestigious universities. Well, the cost of it is that whenever you move to another one, which is more prestigious, your colleagues...

they tend to be more successful than before, right? So that goes with it. And so you join clubs of people more prestigious and what you have, exactly what you say, you have this kind of Let's say, you know, if you join Harvard as an academy, well, for people outside, your Harvard member of staff is very prestigious.

they tend to be more successful than before, right? So that goes with it. And so you join clubs of people more prestigious and what you have, exactly what you say, you have this kind of Let's say, you know, if you join Harvard as an academy, well, for people outside, your Harvard member of staff is very prestigious.

they tend to be more successful than before, right? So that goes with it. And so you join clubs of people more prestigious and what you have, exactly what you say, you have this kind of Let's say, you know, if you join Harvard as an academy, well, for people outside, your Harvard member of staff is very prestigious.

But for you, within Harvard, the comparison now are your colleagues who are superstars. That's very stressful. And so in one of my substacks, I described there was Thomas Schelling. You know, it's a story told by Glenn Lowry when he He joined Harvard, and he got very stressed by the pressure of success, of being successful in publishing, et cetera, et cetera.

But for you, within Harvard, the comparison now are your colleagues who are superstars. That's very stressful. And so in one of my substacks, I described there was Thomas Schelling. You know, it's a story told by Glenn Lowry when he He joined Harvard, and he got very stressed by the pressure of success, of being successful in publishing, et cetera, et cetera.

But for you, within Harvard, the comparison now are your colleagues who are superstars. That's very stressful. And so in one of my substacks, I described there was Thomas Schelling. You know, it's a story told by Glenn Lowry when he He joined Harvard, and he got very stressed by the pressure of success, of being successful in publishing, et cetera, et cetera.

And he goes to his colleague, Thomas Schelling, a very famous game theorist. And Thomas Schelling says, what do you think? Everybody here is extremely stressed. They all think that they're underachieving. And when you ask, what are you doing? They think, oh my God, I'm being judged for not being performing enough.