# Network Effects Network effects occur when a system, service, or community becomes more useful—or more consequential—as participation grows. Each new participant can add connections, information, reach, or coordination capacity for others already inside the network. The same dynamic can amplify harm. A compromised account, distorted narrative, or poisoned relationship may propagate through a densely connected [[wiki/Social Graph|social graph]], giving localized interference effects far beyond its point of origin. ## Related [[wiki/Social Graph|Social Graph]], [[wiki/Information Estate|Information Estate]], [[wiki/Narrative Authority|Narrative Authority]] ## Simple Reminders, Quotations, and Thoughts > "An artificial intelligence will quickly find its way to the world library, the web." > **— Matthew Ritchie**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Digital Life/Artificial Intelligence Will Enter the World Library by Matthew Ritchie|Artificial Intelligence Will Enter the World Library by Matthew Ritchie]] > "Competition is more likely to create than inhibit echo chambers of self-reinforcing beliefs and understandings." > **— Margaret Levi**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/AI Control/Competition Creates Self-Reinforcing Echo Chambers by Margaret Levi|Competition Creates Self-Reinforcing Echo Chambers by Margaret Levi]] > "Yet, in the grand scheme of the universe, these new human machine networks will be nothing other than the next natural step in the evolution of our species' ability to beget information." > **— César Hidalgo**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Evolution/Human-Machine Networks Are an Evolutionary Step by César Hidalgo|Human-Machine Networks Are an Evolutionary Step by César Hidalgo]] > "Intelligent machines don't need to be programmed anymore, they can learn and evolve by themselves, at a speed much faster than human intelligence progresses." > **— Dirk Helbing**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Evolution/Machines Can Learn and Evolve Faster Than Humans by Dirk Helbing|Machines Can Learn and Evolve Faster Than Humans by Dirk Helbing]] > "At that point—when machines literally share minds—any self they have would necessarily become collective." > **— Jessica L. Tracy and Kristin Laurin**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Machine Succession/Shared Machine Minds Would Create a Collective Self by Jessica L. Tracy and Kristin Laurin|Shared Machine Minds Would Create a Collective Self by Jessica L. Tracy and Kristin Laurin]]