Scalability and the social dynamics of communication : on comparing social network analysis and communication-oriented modelling as models of communication networks

Internet communication is a major challenge for anyone claiming to design scalable multiagent systems. Millions of messages are passed every day, referring to one another and thus shaping a gigantic network of communication. In this paper, we compare and discuss two different approaches to modelling and analysing such large-scale networks of communication: Social Network Analysis (SNA) and Communication-Oriented Modelling (COM). We demonstrate that, with regard to scalability, COM offers striking advantages over SNA. Based on this comparison, we identify mechanisms that foster scalability in a broader sense, comprising issues of downscaling as well