556 research outputs found
Contrasting Multiple Social Network Autocorrelations for Binary Outcomes, With Applications To Technology Adoption
The rise of socially targeted marketing suggests that decisions made by
consumers can be predicted not only from their personal tastes and
characteristics, but also from the decisions of people who are close to them in
their networks. One obstacle to consider is that there may be several different
measures for "closeness" that are appropriate, either through different types
of friendships, or different functions of distance on one kind of friendship,
where only a subset of these networks may actually be relevant. Another is that
these decisions are often binary and more difficult to model with conventional
approaches, both conceptually and computationally. To address these issues, we
present a hierarchical model for individual binary outcomes that uses and
extends the machinery of the auto-probit method for binary data. We demonstrate
the behavior of the parameters estimated by the multiple network-regime
auto-probit model (m-NAP) under various sensitivity conditions, such as the
impact of the prior distribution and the nature of the structure of the
network, and demonstrate on several examples of correlated binary data in
networks of interest to Information Systems, including the adoption of Caller
Ring-Back Tones, whose use is governed by direct connection but explained by
additional network topologies
Measuring social dynamics in a massive multiplayer online game
Quantification of human group-behavior has so far defied an empirical,
falsifiable approach. This is due to tremendous difficulties in data
acquisition of social systems. Massive multiplayer online games (MMOG) provide
a fascinating new way of observing hundreds of thousands of simultaneously
socially interacting individuals engaged in virtual economic activities. We
have compiled a data set consisting of practically all actions of all players
over a period of three years from a MMOG played by 300,000 people. This
large-scale data set of a socio-economic unit contains all social and economic
data from a single and coherent source. Players have to generate a virtual
income through economic activities to `survive' and are typically engaged in a
multitude of social activities offered within the game. Our analysis of
high-frequency log files focuses on three types of social networks, and tests a
series of social-dynamics hypotheses. In particular we study the structure and
dynamics of friend-, enemy- and communication networks. We find striking
differences in topological structure between positive (friend) and negative
(enemy) tie networks. All networks confirm the recently observed phenomenon of
network densification. We propose two approximate social laws in communication
networks, the first expressing betweenness centrality as the inverse square of
the overlap, the second relating communication strength to the cube of the
overlap. These empirical laws provide strong quantitative evidence for the Weak
ties hypothesis of Granovetter. Further, the analysis of triad significance
profiles validates well-established assertions from social balance theory. We
find overrepresentation (underrepresentation) of complete (incomplete) triads
in networks of positive ties, and vice versa for networks of negative ties...Comment: 23 pages 19 figure
Degree correlations in signed social networks
We investigate degree correlations in two online social networks where users
are connected through different types of links. We find that, while subnetworks
in which links have a positive connotation, such as endorsement and trust, are
characterized by assortative mixing by degree, networks in which links have a
negative connotation, such as disapproval and distrust, are characterized by
disassortative patterns. We introduce a class of simple theoretical models to
analyze the interplay between network topology and the superimposed structure
based on the sign of links. Results uncover the conditions that underpin the
emergence of the patterns observed in the data, namely the assortativity of
positive subnetworks and the disassortativity of negative ones. We discuss the
implications of our study for the analysis of signed complex networks
Social Balance on Networks: The Dynamics of Friendship and Enmity
How do social networks evolve when both friendly and unfriendly relations
exist? Here we propose a simple dynamics for social networks in which the sense
of a relationship can change so as to eliminate imbalanced triads--relationship
triangles that contains 1 or 3 unfriendly links. In this dynamics, a friendly
link changes to unfriendly or vice versa in an imbalanced triad to make the
triad balanced. Such networks undergo a dynamic phase transition from a steady
state to "utopia"--all friendly links--as the amount of network friendliness is
changed. Basic features of the long-time dynamics and the phase transition are
discussed.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures, paper based on an invited talk at Dyonet06,
Dynamics on Complex Networks and Applications, Dresden, Germany, Feburary
200
Probabilistic Inductive Classes of Graphs
Models of complex networks are generally defined as graph stochastic
processes in which edges and vertices are added or deleted over time to
simulate the evolution of networks. Here, we define a unifying framework -
probabilistic inductive classes of graphs - for formalizing and studying
evolution of complex networks. Our definition of probabilistic inductive class
of graphs (PICG) extends the standard notion of inductive class of graphs (ICG)
by imposing a probability space. A PICG is given by: (1) class B of initial
graphs, the basis of PICG, (2) class R of generating rules, each with
distinguished left element to which the rule is applied to obtain the right
element, (3) probability distribution specifying how the initial graph is
chosen from class B, (4) probability distribution specifying how the rules from
class R are applied, and, finally, (5) probability distribution specifying how
the left elements for every rule in class R are chosen. We point out that many
of the existing models of growing networks can be cast as PICGs. We present how
the well known model of growing networks - the preferential attachment model -
can be studied as PICG. As an illustration we present results regarding the
size, order, and degree sequence for PICG models of connected and 2-connected
graphs.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figure
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