Excessive choice in social networks

The idea that too much choice can be bad for making good decisions is not a new one. It has achieved widespread acceptance as part of Braess' Paradox, which stated that adding extra roads can worsen congestion, whilst removing them can ease traffic flow. It's a process that has been proven in a number of cities.

Does it apply to social networks though? A new paper from the University of Amsterdam has set out to investigate how extra choices can produce poorer results within a social network.

As previously said though, whilst interesting, this is not a new concept. Below is an interesting TED talk from Barry Schwartz from back in 2005.