Influence Cascades: Entropy-Based Characterization of Behavioral Influence Patterns in Social Media
Influence cascades are typically analyzed using a single metric approach, i.e., all influence is measured using one number. However, social influence is not monolithic; different users exercise different influences in different ways, and influence is correlated with the user and content-specific att...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
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Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
2021
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/131341 |
| _version_ | 1811079293419126784 |
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| author | Senevirathna, Chathurani Gunaratne, Chathika Rand, William Jayalath, Chathura Garibay, Ivan |
| author_facet | Senevirathna, Chathurani Gunaratne, Chathika Rand, William Jayalath, Chathura Garibay, Ivan |
| author_sort | Senevirathna, Chathurani |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Influence cascades are typically analyzed using a single metric approach, i.e., all influence is measured using one number. However, social influence is not monolithic; different users exercise different influences in different ways, and influence is correlated with the user and content-specific attributes. One such attribute could be whether the action is an initiation of a new post, a contribution to a post, or a sharing of an existing post. In this paper, we present a novel method for tracking these influence relationships over time, which we call influence cascades, and present a visualization technique to better understand these cascades. We investigate these influence patterns within and across online social media platforms using empirical data and comparing to a scale-free network as a null model. Our results show that characteristics of influence cascades and patterns of influence are, in fact, affected by the platform and the community of the users. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:12:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/131341 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:12:54Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1313412021-09-21T03:44:04Z Influence Cascades: Entropy-Based Characterization of Behavioral Influence Patterns in Social Media Senevirathna, Chathurani Gunaratne, Chathika Rand, William Jayalath, Chathura Garibay, Ivan Influence cascades are typically analyzed using a single metric approach, i.e., all influence is measured using one number. However, social influence is not monolithic; different users exercise different influences in different ways, and influence is correlated with the user and content-specific attributes. One such attribute could be whether the action is an initiation of a new post, a contribution to a post, or a sharing of an existing post. In this paper, we present a novel method for tracking these influence relationships over time, which we call influence cascades, and present a visualization technique to better understand these cascades. We investigate these influence patterns within and across online social media platforms using empirical data and comparing to a scale-free network as a null model. Our results show that characteristics of influence cascades and patterns of influence are, in fact, affected by the platform and the community of the users. 2021-09-20T14:16:17Z 2021-09-20T14:16:17Z 2021-01-28 2021-02-05T14:10:35Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/131341 Entropy 23 (2): 160 (2021) PUBLISHER_CC http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/e23020160 Creative Commons Attribution https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ application/pdf Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
| spellingShingle | Senevirathna, Chathurani Gunaratne, Chathika Rand, William Jayalath, Chathura Garibay, Ivan Influence Cascades: Entropy-Based Characterization of Behavioral Influence Patterns in Social Media |
| title | Influence Cascades: Entropy-Based Characterization of Behavioral Influence Patterns in Social Media |
| title_full | Influence Cascades: Entropy-Based Characterization of Behavioral Influence Patterns in Social Media |
| title_fullStr | Influence Cascades: Entropy-Based Characterization of Behavioral Influence Patterns in Social Media |
| title_full_unstemmed | Influence Cascades: Entropy-Based Characterization of Behavioral Influence Patterns in Social Media |
| title_short | Influence Cascades: Entropy-Based Characterization of Behavioral Influence Patterns in Social Media |
| title_sort | influence cascades entropy based characterization of behavioral influence patterns in social media |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/131341 |
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