Social success not about who you know – it’s about knowing who knows whom

Knowledge trumps popularity in the long haul of trying to be influential, researchers say

When it comes to social climbing, it's not who you know, or how many people you know, it's about knowing who knows whom, research suggests.

Experts studying social connections made by first-year university students say those who ended up with the most influence were not necessarily the most popular, but those who had a good idea, early on, about who belonged to which clique or community.