The web is being rebuilt around people. From travel to news to commerce, businesses are reorienting their efforts around people - around the social behavior of their customers and potential customers. As we traverse across the web, we'll know which of our friends prefer different brands, and this information will be surfaced to us at the most opportune moments - when we're deciding what to buy.

In order to be successful in this new social web, businesses will need to understand how people are influenced by their social network. How the people closest to them influence them the most, and how it's more important to focus on small connected groups of friends rather than looking for overly influential individuals.

This book pulls together the latest research on influence and social behavior to describe how people are connected, and how ideas and brand messages spread through social networks.

Researcher, Interaction Designer and Industrial Designer Paul Adams advises design and product teams on creating successful social experiences. He has led research and design projects in the US, UK, India, China and Japan on sociability and emerging platforms.