Actual research was done regarding whether popularity predicts flu trends. Dr Fowler at UCSD and Dr. Christakis at Harvard found that "popular" friends on average get flu 2 weeks before everyone else. The way this friendship paradox works is as follows: If a person is asked to name a friend, that friend is statistically likely to be more popular than the original individual. Such "popular" individuals typically interact with more people increasing the likelihood of the…