NETS Major Isn't Actually All That Popular on Social Networks

Randy Patel (E ’19) is passionate about his major, NETS, which is short for Networked and Social Systems Engineering. Everyday, he is privileged to learn about how networks shape society and about the socioeconomic and technological factors that drive them.

In fact, just a few weeks ago, Patel was contacted by Facebook and LinkedIn regarding his research on improving friend recommendation algorithms. Not many people understand social networks like him.

And yet, Patel somehow is not popular on these same networks.

“I’ve tried implementing my research and maximizing how many likes I get on profile pictures, but it hasn’t really worked,” Patel said. One of our reporters confirmed this and noted that his most recent profile picture primarily had "angry" reactions.