Very true. Social networks, to the extent that in a given situation they conform to power laws that govern network behavior in general, are very influential.
OTOH human social networks are also on the high end of complexity in terms of being complex adaptive systems. As with weather/climate modelling, it's hard to account for all of the variables in play at any given time. We're at the starting point of investigating network theory and moreso in applying it in social science research.
That said, I expect that going this route will yield some important and many lesser but interesting research breakthroughs in the next ten to twenty years.
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