  We show that the nonequilibrium dynamics of systems with many interacting
elements located on a small-world network can be much slower than on regular
networks. As an example, we study the phase ordering dynamics of the Ising
model on a Watts-Strogatz network, after a quench in the ferromagnetic phase at
zero temperature. In one and two dimensions, small-world features produce
dynamically frozen configurations, disordered at large length scales, analogous
of random field models. This picture differs from the common knowledge
(supported by equilibrium results) that ferromagnetic short-cuts connections
favor order and uniformity. We briefly discuss some implications of these
results regarding the dynamics of social changes.
