81,038 research outputs found
A Computational Model and Convergence Theorem for Rumor Dissemination in Social Networks
The spread of rumors, which are known as unverified statements of uncertain
origin, may cause tremendous number of social problems. If it would be possible
to identify factors affecting spreading a rumor (such as agents' desires, trust
network, etc.), then this could be used to slowdown or stop its spreading. A
computational model that includes rumor features and the way a rumor is spread
among society's members, based on their desires, is therefore needed. Our
research is centering on the relation between the homogeneity of the society
and rumor convergence in it and result shows that the homogeneity of the
society is a necessary condition for convergence of the spreading rumor.Comment: 29 pages, 7 figure
Active influence in dynamical models of structural balance in social networks
We consider a nonlinear dynamical system on a signed graph, which can be
interpreted as a mathematical model of social networks in which the links can
have both positive and negative connotations. In accordance with a concept from
social psychology called structural balance, the negative links play a key role
in both the structure and dynamics of the network. Recent research has shown
that in a nonlinear dynamical system modeling the time evolution of
"friendliness levels" in the network, two opposing factions emerge from almost
any initial condition. Here we study active external influence in this
dynamical model and show that any agent in the network can achieve any desired
structurally balanced state from any initial condition by perturbing its own
local friendliness levels. Based on this result, we also introduce a new
network centrality measure for signed networks. The results are illustrated in
an international relations network using United Nations voting record data from
1946 to 2008 to estimate friendliness levels amongst various countries.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Europhysics Letters
(http://www.epletters.net
EMERGING THE EMERGENCE SOCIOLOGY: The Philosophical Framework of Agent-Based Social Studies
The structuration theory originally provided by Anthony Giddens and the advance improvement of the theory has been trying to solve the dilemma came up in the epistemological aspects of the social sciences and humanity. Social scientists apparently have to choose whether they are too sociological or too psychological. Nonetheless, in the works of the classical sociologist, Emile Durkheim, this thing has been stated long time ago. The usage of some models to construct the bottom-up theories has followed the vast of computational technology. This model is well known as the agent based modeling. This paper is giving a philosophical perspective of the agent-based social sciences, as the sociology to cope the emergent factors coming up in the sociological analysis. The framework is made by using the artificial neural network model to show how the emergent phenomena came from the complex system. Understanding the society has self-organizing (autopoietic) properties, the Kohonen’s self-organizing map is used in the paper. By the simulation examples, it can be seen obviously that the emergent phenomena in social system are seen by the sociologist apart from the qualitative framework on the atomistic sociology. In the end of the paper, it is clear that the emergence sociology is needed for sharpening the sociological analysis in the emergence sociology
Clustered marginalization of minorities during social transitions induced by co-evolution of behaviour and network structure
Large-scale transitions in societies are associated with both individual
behavioural change and restructuring of the social network. These two factors
have often been considered independently, yet recent advances in social network
research challenge this view. Here we show that common features of societal
marginalization and clustering emerge naturally during transitions in a
co-evolutionary adaptive network model. This is achieved by explicitly
considering the interplay between individual interaction and a dynamic network
structure in behavioural selection. We exemplify this mechanism by simulating
how smoking behaviour and the network structure get reconfigured by changing
social norms. Our results are consistent with empirical findings: The
prevalence of smoking was reduced, remaining smokers were preferentially
connected among each other and formed increasingly marginalised clusters. We
propose that self-amplifying feedbacks between individual behaviour and dynamic
restructuring of the network are main drivers of the transition. This
generative mechanism for co-evolution of individual behaviour and social
network structure may apply to a wide range of examples beyond smoking.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figure
Early Warning Analysis for Social Diffusion Events
There is considerable interest in developing predictive capabilities for
social diffusion processes, for instance to permit early identification of
emerging contentious situations, rapid detection of disease outbreaks, or
accurate forecasting of the ultimate reach of potentially viral ideas or
behaviors. This paper proposes a new approach to this predictive analytics
problem, in which analysis of meso-scale network dynamics is leveraged to
generate useful predictions for complex social phenomena. We begin by deriving
a stochastic hybrid dynamical systems (S-HDS) model for diffusion processes
taking place over social networks with realistic topologies; this modeling
approach is inspired by recent work in biology demonstrating that S-HDS offer a
useful mathematical formalism with which to represent complex, multi-scale
biological network dynamics. We then perform formal stochastic reachability
analysis with this S-HDS model and conclude that the outcomes of social
diffusion processes may depend crucially upon the way the early dynamics of the
process interacts with the underlying network's community structure and
core-periphery structure. This theoretical finding provides the foundations for
developing a machine learning algorithm that enables accurate early warning
analysis for social diffusion events. The utility of the warning algorithm, and
the power of network-based predictive metrics, are demonstrated through an
empirical investigation of the propagation of political memes over social media
networks. Additionally, we illustrate the potential of the approach for
security informatics applications through case studies involving early warning
analysis of large-scale protests events and politically-motivated cyber
attacks
Opinion Polarization by Learning from Social Feedback
We explore a new mechanism to explain polarization phenomena in opinion
dynamics in which agents evaluate alternative views on the basis of the social
feedback obtained on expressing them. High support of the favored opinion in
the social environment, is treated as a positive feedback which reinforces the
value associated to this opinion. In connected networks of sufficiently high
modularity, different groups of agents can form strong convictions of competing
opinions. Linking the social feedback process to standard equilibrium concepts
we analytically characterize sufficient conditions for the stability of
bi-polarization. While previous models have emphasized the polarization effects
of deliberative argument-based communication, our model highlights an affective
experience-based route to polarization, without assumptions about negative
influence or bounded confidence.Comment: Presented at the Social Simulation Conference (Dublin 2017
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