2015/01/27 by Javier Borge‐Holthoefer, Raquel A. Baños, Borge-Holthoefer, Javier +5
Physics and Astronomy · Social Sciences · #Adaptation and Self-Organizing Systems (nlin.AO) #Complex Network Analysis Techniques #Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation #FOS: Computer and information sciences #FOS: Physical sciences #Opinion Dynamics and Social Influence #Physics and Society (physics.soc-ph) #Social and Information Networks (cs.SI)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1501.06809
openalex publication_date 2015/01/27 · openalex created_date 2022/10/07 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Online social networks have transformed the way in which humans communicate\nand interact, leading to a new information ecosystem where people send and\nreceive information through multiple channels, including traditional\ncommunication media. Despite many attempts to characterize the structure and\ndynamics of these techno-social systems, little is known about fundamental\naspects such as how collective attention arises and what determines the\ninformation life-cycle. Current approaches to these problems either focus on\nhuman temporal dynamics or on semiotic dynamics. In addition, as recently\nshown, information ecosystems are highly competitive, with humans and memes\nstriving for scarce resources -visibility and attention, respectively. Inspired\nby similar problems in ecology, here we develop a methodology that allows to\ncast all the previous aspects into a compact framework and to characterize,\nusing microblogging data, information-driven systems as mutualistic networks.\nOur results show that collective attention around a topic is reached when the\nuser-meme network self-adapts from a modular to a nested structure, which\nultimately allows minimizing competition and attaining consensus. Beyond a\nsociological interpretation, we explore such resemblance to natural mutualistic\ncommunities via well-known dynamics of ecological systems.\n