利用社交网络的影响力骨架探索信息传播

理解社交网络上的信息传播机制,通常包括对拓扑结构的分析和对用户行为的分析。由于社交网络上连边的强度具有异质性,只有一部分连边对于信息传播有实质作用,构成隐藏在社交网络中的影响力骨架。对影响力骨架的拓扑研究可帮助我们获得比直接研究社交网络拓扑结构更深入的认识。我们从连边正负性和个体节点角色分化入手,探讨了微观层面连边和节点在信息传播中的作用,进而从宏观层面分析信息传播所依赖的影响力骨架的连通性和扩散效率,发现信息传播具有一定程度的脆弱性,且其传播效率低于对社交网络本身研究的预期。

Understanding Information Propagations via Influence Backbone Analysis on Social Networks

Understanding intrinsic mechanism of information propagations on social networks has attracted growing attention, including social network topology analysis and user behavior analysis. Due to the heterogeneity of links in social networks, only a portion of links significantly contribute to information propagations. The influence backbone of a social network, consisting of those links, might provide deeper insight to information propagations. Focused on the influence backbone, we analyzes the signs of links with social structural balance theory, and the roles of nodes with heterogeneous distributions of out-degrees, so as to find the roles played by links and nodes in information propagations in a microscopic. Furthermore, we investigate the network connectivity and information spread efficiency of the influence backbone, finding that information propagations are more fragile and less effective.