Επιρροή στα Κοινωνικά Δίκτυα: Διερεύνηση των Οπτικών της και Ανάλυση Εργαλείων Υπολογισμού της

Η πτυχιακή αυτή εργασία αποσκοπεί στη μελέτη συστημάτων και αλγορίθμων που υπολογίζουν την επιρροή των χρηστών ή/και του περιεχομένου σε μέσα κοινωνικής δικτύωσης, καθώς και την υλοποίηση ενός νέου συστήματος υπολογισμού επιρροής για το Twitter [1]. Η επιρροή (influence) σαν έννοια μπορεί να έχει πολλές και διαφορετικές ερμηνείες. Ορισμένα συστήματα εκφράζουν την επιρροή ως τη δημοτικότητα (popularity). Ως προς αυτή την οπτική, επηρεάζων (influencer) χαρακτηρίζεται ένας χρήστης που διαθέτει μεγάλο αριθμό από ακόλουθους (followers). Σε άλλες περιπτώσεις η επιρροή ενός χρήστη σχετίζεται με το βαθμό δραστηριοποίησης άλλων χρηστών που μπορεί να προκαλέσει. Αντίστοιχα, ένα θέμα με επιρροή (influencing topic/content) σχετίζεται με τις δημοσιεύσεις (tweets) που αναφέρονται σε αυτό και οι οποίες έχουν σημειώσει μεγάλο αριθμό από likes και αναδημοσιεύσεις (retweets). Άλλα συστήματα θεωρούν ότι η επιρροή ενός θέματος συνδέεται άρρηκτα με το ενδιαφέρον που θα προκαλέσει στους χρήστες. Από τη μελέτη διαφόρων συστημάτων προκύπτει, ότι τα περισσότερα τείνουν να χρησιμοποιούν παρόμοιες παραμέτρους για τον υπολογισμό της επιρροής. Συγκεκριμένα, φαίνεται να απορρίπτεται η χρήση αποκλειστικά του αριθμού των followers για τον υπολογισμό της και να λαμβάνονται υπόψη χαρακτηριστικά, όπως ο αριθμός των likes, των retweets και σε κάποιες περιπτώσεις ο αριθμός των συνδέσμων (URLs) που διαθέτει ένα tweet, καθώς και το μέγεθος της ίδιας της δημοσίευσης. Μέχρι στιγμής, o αλγόριθμος που χρησιμοποιεί η πλατφόρμα του Twitter [1], για τον καθορισμό της επιρροής ενός χρήστη, κάνει χρήση μόνο του αριθμού των followers. Παρόλα αυτά, έχουν πραγματοποιηθεί αρκετές μελέτες και πειράματα από τα οποία προκύπτει ότι ένας τέτοιος αλγόριθμος δεν είναι τόσο αποδοτικός, όσο κάποιος που εξετάζει και τα χαρακτηριστικά που αναφέρθηκαν παραπάνω. Σκοπός του προτεινόμενου νέου συστήματος μέτρησης της επιρροής που υλοποιήθηκε είναι ο υπολογισμός της επιρροής ορισμένων ετικετών (hashtags) σχετικών με την υγεία (π.χ. #breastcancerawareness, #diabetes, #leukaemia κ.α.), καθώς και των tweets που περιλαμβάνουν αυτά τα hashtags και των χρηστών που τα δημοσίευσαν. Για την εύρεση της επιρροής ενός hashtag χρησιμοποιήθηκε ο αριθμός των tweets που το συμπεριλαμβάνουν καθώς και το σύνολο των likes και των retweets που αυτά έλαβαν. Για τον υπολογισμό της επιρροής ενός tweet σε σχέση με ένα hashtag, λήφθηκαν υπόψη ο αριθμός των likes και των retweets του, καθώς και οι παράμετροι που χρησιμοποιήθηκαν για τον υπολογισμό της επιρροής του hashtag. Η επιρροή ενός χρήστη, σε σχέση με ένα hashtag, προκύπτει από τη χρήση του αριθμού των retweets και των likes που έλαβαν οι δημοσιεύσεις του και οι οποίες περιλαμβάνουν το συγκεκριμένο hashtag, σε σχέση με τον αριθμό των retweets αντίστοιχα των likes όλων των tweets που το περιλαμβάνουν. Επιπλέον εξετάσθηκε και ο αριθμός των ακολούθων του χρήστη σε σχέση με τον αριθμό αυτών που ακολουθεί εκείνος (followees). Για τον κάθε τύπο χρησιμοποιήθηκαν και συντελεστές βαρύτητας. Για τον έλεγχο των αποτελεσμάτων πραγματοποιήθηκαν πειράματα με συντελεστές διαφορετικής βαρύτητας για τις παραμέτρους, καθώς και συγκρίσεις με άλλα συστήματα και αλγόριθμους που υπολογίζουν την επιρροή.The purpose of this dissertation is to study different systems and algorithms that calculate user and/or content influence in Social Networks, as well as to present the implementation of a new influence computation system for Twitter [1]. Influence can have various interpretations. Some of the existing systems that calculate influence, view it as the popularity. In this aspect, an influencer is a user that has a high number of followers. In other cases, influence is viewed in relation to the level of social activity that a user can stimulate. Similarly, an influencing topic or content is one that is being presented in many tweets, which have received numerous likes and retweets. Other systems consider that a content’s influence is linked to the interest that will cause to users. By studying various recommendation systems, we deduce that most of them tend to use similar parameters to calculate influence. More specifically, it seems that the usage of only the number of followers for the computation is rejected and characteristics like the number of likes of tweets, retweets, outlinks (URLs) and the length of the tweet are being considered. Up until now, the algorithm being used by the Twitter platform [1] in order to infer the user’s influence takes into account only his/her followers. However, many studies and experiments have shown that such an algorithm is not as efficient as one that also considers the aforementioned parameters. In this work, we propose a new system that was implemented in order to infer the influence of health related hashtags, such as #breastcancerawareness, #diabetes, #leukaemia etc., the tweets that contain them and the users that posted them. In this system, the information used for the hashtag’s influence calculation is the number of tweets that contain it and the number of likes and retweets that they received. For the tweet’s influence estimation in relation to a hashtag, the parameters used are the number of its likes and retweets, in combination with the above-mentioned parameters. Lastly, the outcome of a user’s influence, in relation to a specific hashtag, is related to the usage of the number of likes and retweets that his/her tweets (that contain the hashtag) received compared to the number of likes and retweets of all the tweets that contain the hashtag. In addition, the new system takes into consideration the number of the user’s followers and followees. Different weights used for each parameter. In order to evaluate the implemented algorithm, different weights were examined and comparisons were made with other influence calculation systems

The Beauty and the Barrister: Gender Roles, Madness, and the Basis for Identity in Lady Audley\u27s Secret

This thesis examines the concept of identity in the novel Lady Audley’s Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon. In the mid to late Victorian period, self-definition was strongly tied to gender roles. Men were expected to be mentally active, physical strong, and morally guiding leaders of society, and women were to be their passive, pious, domestically minded followers. These expectations for behavior were so strong that those breaking them were in danger of being considered insane. In Braddon’s novel, the behavior of most characters does not align with the expectations for their gender. The exception is Lady Audley, the apparently ideal woman whose beauty and charm mask a vicious and criminal nature. Her plea of insanity, while it may offer an excuse for her unfeminine behavior, does not pardon her crimes. However, hero Robert Audley’s behavior is absolutely effeminate, but he has a strong moral sense and total devotion to his loved ones. Their deviation from or adherence to gender-appropriate behaviors does not change their essential natures. In Lady Audley’s Secret, Braddon uses gender roles and the theme of insanity to critique the Victorian conception of identity

ArtSci - Newsmagazine of the College of Arts and Sciences, Spring 2023

Letter From the Dean We\u27re on the Air! Shifting Tides Lighting the Way Celebrating Black Voices Making Moves in Media Preparing Post-Docs for Teaching Careers Calling all Radio Fans New Faculty Book Publication Deconstructs America\u27s Police Restoring Justice, Service Communities Changing the Criminal Justice Classroom GSU Goes All in for Student Voter Turnout Faculty Advisor & Our Student Writershttps://opus.govst.edu/cas_pubs/1006/thumbnail.jp

Approaches to the solution to the problem of news-based events forecasting

An overview of the areas of application of approaches and methods of forecasting events based on past events. The substantiation of urgency of a theme is given and possibilities concerning application of results of work are resulted. Requirements for incoming news regarding their quality are defined. It is noted that there are four key criteria for the quality of the media, which are often two-component, namely: the relevance of news, providing the context in which the event, compliance with professional standards and a variety of materials. The key stages of working with data in order to obtain knowledge from them for forecasting events are identified. These include pre-processing of data (reduction to a standardized view that will understand and be able to process the algorithm), their analysis and the forecasting process itself. The spheres of application of associative series and Markov processes for search of causal relations, and time series for definition of the period of occurrence of an event with the set probability are specified. Ref. 7, pic. 2

Approaches to the solution to the problem of news-based events forecasting

An overview of the areas of application of approaches and methods of forecasting events based on past events. The substantiation of urgency of a theme is given and possibilities concerning application of results of work are resulted. Requirements for incoming news regarding their quality are defined. It is noted that there are four key criteria for the quality of the media, which are often two-component, namely: the relevance of news, providing the context in which the event, compliance with professional standards and a variety of materials. The key stages of working with data in order to obtain knowledge from them for forecasting events are identified. These include pre-processing of data (reduction to a standardized view that will understand and be able to process the algorithm), their analysis and the forecasting process itself. The spheres of application of associative series and Markov processes for search of causal relations, and time series for definition of the period of occurrence of an event with the set probability are specified

(The) trend of modern biography ..

Typewritten sheets in cover. Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University Bibliography: 2 p. at beginning This item was digitized by the Internet Archive

An Analysis of Terrorism and Mental Health in Mass Shootings as Perceived by the Media

Public mass shootings are the rarest type of mass murder in the United States. Nevertheless, the media tends to focus on mass murders that appear to be the most newsworthy. The most sensational mass murders are those that have the highest victim count, that target perfect victims, and that occur in a public location. Terrorism and mental health are two separate frames that are often used by the media when reporting a mass shooting event. This creates a lack of accurate reporting that displays a distorted image of mass shootings and affects the public\u27s perception. This study evaluated frames used by the media specifically terrorism and mental health as well as others that came up as a result of this study. Using the Active Shooter Incidents in the United States report, a sample of 75 mass shootings were selected that occurred between 2007 and 2017. This was a qualitative study and consisted of a content analysis of news reports for each of the mass shootings in the sample. Findings revealed several themes that are commonly used by the media when reporting on the mass shooting events. The most common frames found were mental health, terrorism, domestic violence, financial/employment struggles, lack of social skills/loner, political attacks, and criminal/violent backgrounds. Mental health was the most common frame used by media reports to describe motive for the attack. In addition, offenders that were identified as Muslim in the sample were all investigated as having possible terrorism ties. This analysis allowed for an overview of major themes that are commonly present in media reports. The wide sample used in this analysis included the most recent mass shootings in conjunction with the commonly researched mass shootings that have occurred in previous years which supplements the overall literature in this topic

Genre-based strategies for integrating critical and creative thinking in Engineering and Journalism

In this paper we propose genre-based strategies for integrating two key lifelong competencies, critical and creative thinking, in Engineering and Journalism. In both disciplines there is a need to apply professional expertise in various contexts and to communicate with different audiences. Drawing on previous studies, we sketch a basic needs analysis in these professional fields, point to major learning obstacles, and provide guidelines for collaboration between language and content teachers in English-medium instruction settings. In such collaboration, genre is simultaneously the hub, the framing structure, and the shared middle ground between content and form and even between disparate disciplines. Our goal is an integrative pedagogy that merges the acquisition of disciplinary content and procedures with the practice of ‘soft skills’ and the ability to transform and interrelate knowledge. Our contention for both Engineering and Journalism is that by allowing students to understand genres and explore their potential, we can provide them with learning experiences in which critical thinking and creativity are engaged