2024/02/23 by Ankita Bhaumik, Ning Sa, Bhaumik, Ankita +5
Computer Science · Social Sciences · #Computation and Language (cs.CL) #Digital Communication and Language #Digital Games and Media #FOS: Computer and information sciences #Social Media and Politics #Social and Information Networks (cs.SI)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2402.15571
openalex publication_date 2024/02/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Social media platforms are popular tools for disseminating targeted information during major public events like elections or pandemics. Systematic analysis of the message traffic can provide valuable insights into prevailing opinions and social dynamics among different segments of the population. We are specifically interested in influence spread, and in particular whether more deliberate influence operations can be detected. However, filtering out the essential messages with telltale influence indicators from the extensive and often chaotic social media traffic is a major challenge. In this paper we present a novel approach to extract influence indicators from messages circulating among groups of users discussing particular topics. We build upon the concept of a convo to identify influential authors who are actively promoting some particular agenda around that topic within the group. We focus on two influence indicators: the (control of) agenda and the use of emotional language.