Emergence of polarization in a voter model with personalized information
The flourishing of fake news is supported by recommendation algorithms of online social networks, which, based on previous user activity, provide content adapted to their preferences and so create filter bubbles. We introduce an analytically tractable voter model with personalized information, in wh...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
American Physical Society
2020-10-01
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| Series: | Physical Review Research |
| Online Access: | http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.043117 |
| _version_ | 1797211229429694464 |
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| author | Giordano De Marzo Andrea Zaccaria Claudio Castellano |
| author_facet | Giordano De Marzo Andrea Zaccaria Claudio Castellano |
| author_sort | Giordano De Marzo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The flourishing of fake news is supported by recommendation algorithms of online social networks, which, based on previous user activity, provide content adapted to their preferences and so create filter bubbles. We introduce an analytically tractable voter model with personalized information, in which an external field tends to align the agent's opinion with the one she held more frequently in the past. Our model shows a surprisingly rich dynamics despite its simplicity. An analytical mean-field approach, confirmed by numerical simulations, allows us to build a phase diagram and to predict if and how consensus is reached. Remarkably, polarization can be avoided only for weak interaction with personalized information and if the number of agents is below a threshold. We compute analytically this critical size, which depends on the interaction probability in a strongly nonlinear way. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T10:23:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c508473f633f41099856f6ec2851d7c7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2643-1564 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T10:23:10Z |
| publishDate | 2020-10-01 |
| publisher | American Physical Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Physical Review Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-c508473f633f41099856f6ec2851d7c72024-04-12T17:02:49ZengAmerican Physical SocietyPhysical Review Research2643-15642020-10-012404311710.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.043117Emergence of polarization in a voter model with personalized informationGiordano De MarzoAndrea ZaccariaClaudio CastellanoThe flourishing of fake news is supported by recommendation algorithms of online social networks, which, based on previous user activity, provide content adapted to their preferences and so create filter bubbles. We introduce an analytically tractable voter model with personalized information, in which an external field tends to align the agent's opinion with the one she held more frequently in the past. Our model shows a surprisingly rich dynamics despite its simplicity. An analytical mean-field approach, confirmed by numerical simulations, allows us to build a phase diagram and to predict if and how consensus is reached. Remarkably, polarization can be avoided only for weak interaction with personalized information and if the number of agents is below a threshold. We compute analytically this critical size, which depends on the interaction probability in a strongly nonlinear way.http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.043117 |
| spellingShingle | Giordano De Marzo Andrea Zaccaria Claudio Castellano Emergence of polarization in a voter model with personalized information Physical Review Research |
| title | Emergence of polarization in a voter model with personalized information |
| title_full | Emergence of polarization in a voter model with personalized information |
| title_fullStr | Emergence of polarization in a voter model with personalized information |
| title_full_unstemmed | Emergence of polarization in a voter model with personalized information |
| title_short | Emergence of polarization in a voter model with personalized information |
| title_sort | emergence of polarization in a voter model with personalized information |
| url | http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.043117 |
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