Hubs – eigenvector centrality

Imagine having an important message that needs to reach an entire group (for example, your employer or school), but only being able to give that message to one person. Who would you tell? You'd want to find someone well-connected to the entire network. You might try the person with the highest degree centrality (the most friends). The downside to that approach is that their friends might not be well connected to the rest of the network. In a hypothetical company, for example, the Director of East Coast Sales might know the most people, but might not know how to reach anyone in other departments or regions. Instead, it would be better to find someone who is highly connected to other highly-connected people, such as the CEO (or, more likely, their assistant). Such individuals are sometimes called hubs, because, like the center of a spoked...