How people make friends in social networking sites - A microscopic perspective

We study the detailed growth of a social networking site with full temporal information by examining the creation process of each friendship relation that can collectively lead to the macroscopic properties of the network. We first study the reciprocal behavior of users, and find that link requests are quickly responded to and that the distribution of reciprocation intervals decays in an exponential form. The degrees of inviters/accepters are slightly negatively correlative with reciprocation time. In addition, the temporal feature of the online community shows that the distributions of intervals of user behaviors, such as sending or accepting link requests, follow a power law with a universal exponent, and peaks emerge for intervals of an integral day. We finally study the preferential selection and linking phenomena of the social networking site and find that, for the former, a linear preference holds for preferential sending and reception, and for the latter, a linear preference also holds for preferential acceptance, creation, and attachment. Based on the linearly preferential linking, we put forward an analyzable network model which can reproduce the degree distribution of the network. The research framework presented in the paper could provide a potential insight into how the micro-motives of users lead to the global structure of online social networks.Comment: 10 pages, 12 figures, 2 table

Using data visualization to deduce faces expressions

Conferência Internacional, realizada na Turquia, de 6-8 de setembro de 2018.Collect and examine in real time multi modal sensor data of a human face, is an important problem in computer vision, with applications in medical and monitoring analysis, entertainment and security. Although its advances, there are still many open issues in terms of the identification of the facial expression. Different algorithms and approaches have been developed to find out patterns and characteristics that can help the automatic expression identification. One way to study data is through data visualizations. Data visualization turns numbers and letters into aesthetically pleasing visuals, making it easy to recognize patterns and find exceptions. In this article, we use information visualization as a tool to analyse data points and find out possible existing patterns in four different facial expressions.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Continuïtat entre les xarxes socials reals i virtuals

Conté: treball de recerca i pòsterL'entrada de les plataformes de xarxes socials virtuals, com Facebook/Whatsapp, a quotidianitat de cada persona és molt recent, tot i això el seu impacte ha estat molt important. Nombroses veus d'alarma han advertit que aquest fet portaria a l'aïllament social, on els individus trencarien amb la realitat i amb els llaços personals. Aquest treball constata com pel contrari, les interaccions de les xarxes socials virtuals són dependents de les interaccions de les xarxes socials reals (cara a cara), d'aquesta manera el grau d'intensitat i freqüència de les interaccions per Facebook/Whatsapp estarà marcat pel tipus d'interacció real

A Review for the Online Social Networks Literature (2005-2011)

Although Online Social Networks (OSNs) such as MySpace, Facebook, and Youtube are still under development; they have attracted millions of users, many of whom have integrated these sites into their daily practices. There are hundreds of OSNs, with various technological affordances, supporting a wide range of interests and practices. However, impact of OSNs is increasingly pervasive and numerous researchers worked on different aspects on social networks. There is no research work for identification and classification of this literature. So, the purpose of this study is to presents a literature review for research works in OSNs. The review covers 132 journal articles published from 2005 to 2011. The reviewed articles classified OSNs literature into four distinct categories: the “Application”, “Survey and Analysis”, “Concept”, and “Technique”. The findings of our study reveal that “applications” were the most frequently category has been considered in the literature. Also, the subject of social networking is somehow overlooked in developing and under-developed countries. This review will provide a source for anyone interested in discovering research trends in social network sites literature, and will help to simulate further interest fields in the area. Keywords: Social network sites (SNSs), Online Social Networks (OSNs), Social media, Social networking

An economic perspective on the influence of social interaction on risky behaviours

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references.This thesis presents the theme of social interaction and risk taking. There is a growing interest in incorporating the influence of social interaction in the economic modelling of human choices. Although the current economic literature is awash with the topic of social interaction a disproportionate bias is towards theoretical as opposed to empirical work. Of the existing empirical literature, a small proportion deals with sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries as case studies. This is quite surprising given that the cultural characteristic of close-knit social kinship and ties in this region makes it more likely that human choices will be influenced by social interaction. Further to this the existing empirical literature is abounds with criticism regarding the lack of sound methods to curb identification problems which include the effects of unobservables, selection bias, simultaneity and the related reflection problem. Against this backdrop the thesis makes an empirical investigation into the role of social interaction on risk taking behaviour. The thesis consists of three self-contained papers, each with the aim of unearthing the influence of social interaction on risk taking. Two types of risky behaviours apparent in SSA are investigated. The first is risky sexual behaviour associated with the HIV infection. This risk is covered in two papers that constitute chapters 2 and 3. The second type of risky behaviour relates to crimes of social behaviour, specifically contact crimes and contact related crimes, and this is covered in one paper which forms chapter 4

Factors influencing social media adoption in small and medium enterprises (SMEs)

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonThe adoption and use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) is widely regarded as essential in contemporary organisational environments. Such technologies have substantial effects on an organisation’s productivity and competitiveness. However, the nature of the effects varies across types of organisation (small to large), by country-context (developed and developing countries) and with the type of ICT adopted. This thesis focuses primarily on Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in a less-researched developing country context, the region of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), with special reference to Oman. In terms of the ICT under investigation, recognising the emergence of more interactive forms of technology, this thesis focuses on social media applications. It is widely recognised that the adoption and use of these applications change the ways in which organisations conduct their activities and represent a critical business opportunity for SMEs. This opportunity will only be realised by SMEs if, and when, social media are adopted in their organisations. This therefore creates a requirement to understand the factors that influence SMEs in making the adoption decision. The research related to such factors is scarce, not least because the technologies are relatively new. By using the Technology-Organisation-Environment (TOE) framework, this study therefore attempted to understand the factors influencing the decision by SMEs to adopt social media. It employed a sequential, exploratory mixed method, where both qualitative and quantitative approaches were combined to meet the research objectives. In the first stage, a preliminary TOE model of 18 factors was developed from the analysis of semi-structured interviews with 18 SMEs owner-managers in Muscat, the capital city of Oman. In the second stage, a survey involving 205 SMEs in Muscat was conducted to examine empirically the preliminary model. The survey data were analysed using logistic regression (LR). Of the factors examined, compatibility, observability, trialability, trust, image, perceived lack of managerial time, market scope, customer pressure and family and friends’ support were found to have significant influence on SMEs’ decisions to adopt social media. These findings have important implications and value for the research community, SMEs and policy makers (in particular, the Public Authority for SME Development (PASMED)) in terms of formulating improved strategies for social media adoption. The resulting research model proposed in this thesis can improve these stakeholders’ understandings of why some SMEs have chosen to adopt social media technologies, while other SMEs which face similar market conditions have not