Emergence of consensus as a modular-to-nested transition in communication dynamics
Javier Borge-Holthoefer1,2,3, Raquel A Baños3, Carlos Gracia-Lázaro3
1Qatar Computing Research Institute, HBKU, Doha, Qatar.
Scientific Reports
|January 31, 2017
Summary
Online social networks create competitive information ecosystems. This study reveals that collective attention emerges when user-meme networks adapt from modular to nested structures, minimizing competition and fostering consensus.
Area of Science:
- Complex Systems Science
- Computational Social Science
- Information Ecology
Background:
- Online social networks have reshaped communication, creating complex information ecosystems.
- Understanding collective attention and information life-cycles in these techno-social systems remains a challenge.
- Existing research often focuses separately on human temporal or semiotic dynamics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a unified framework for analyzing information ecosystems.
- To investigate the emergence of collective attention and information life-cycles.
- To characterize information-driven systems using ecological principles.
Main Methods:
- Utilized microblogging data to analyze user-meme interactions.
- Developed a methodology inspired by ecological network theory.
- Modeled information ecosystems as mutualistic networks.
Main Results:
- Collective attention is achieved when user-meme networks transition from modular to nested structures.
- This structural adaptation minimizes competition for attention and visibility.
- The dynamics observed in information ecosystems resemble those in natural mutualistic communities.
Conclusions:
- Information ecosystems can be effectively modeled as mutualistic networks.
- Network structure self-adaptation is key to achieving collective attention and consensus.
- Ecological dynamics offer valuable insights into the functioning of online information environments.
Related Concept Videos
01:27Levels of Communication II: Organizational, Public, and Group Dynamics
3.2K
Effective communication is the foundation of a good organization. Communication is the lifeblood of an organization that connects the group with messages. In an organization, communication occurs in upward, downward, and horizontal lines. Downward communication travels from the administrative and senior levels to the staff through official channels such as manuals, rules and regulations, and organizational charts. Staff members initiate upward communication, which is addressed to executives and...
3.2K
01:15Theories of Dissolution: Diffusion Layer Model
2.0K
Dissolution, the process by which drug particles dissolve in a solvent, is explained by the diffusion layer model, a theoretical framework that simulates the absorption of oral drugs and allows us to analyze experimental data.
This process starts with a thin layer, saturated with the drug, forming at the interface between the solid and liquid. The solute then diffuses from this layer into the main solution. The Noyes-Whitney equation suggests that the rate of dissolution relies on the diffusion...
This process starts with a thin layer, saturated with the drug, forming at the interface between the solid and liquid. The solute then diffuses from this layer into the main solution. The Noyes-Whitney equation suggests that the rate of dissolution relies on the diffusion...
2.0K
01:34Woodward–Hoffmann Selection Rules and Microscopic Reversibility
4.1K
Electrocyclic reactions, cycloadditions, and sigmatropic rearrangements are concerted pericyclic reactions that proceed via a cyclic transition state. These reactions are stereospecific and regioselective. The stereochemistry of the products depends on the symmetry characteristics of the interacting orbitals and the reaction conditions. Accordingly, pericyclic reactions are classified as either symmetry-allowed or symmetry-forbidden. Woodward and Hoffmann presented the selection criteria for...
4.1K
02:12Relationship Formation
46.3K
What do you think is the single most influential factor in determining with whom you become friends and whom you form romantic relationships? You might be surprised to learn that the answer is simple: the people with whom you have the most contact. This most important factor is proximity. You are more likely to be friends with people you have regular contact with. For example, there are decades of research that shows that you are more likely to become friends with people who live in your dorm,...
46.3K
01:23Root Loci for Positive-Feedback Systems
369
The Hartley oscillator is a positive feedback system that sustains oscillations by feeding the output back to the input in phase, thereby reinforcing the signal. Positive feedback systems can be viewed as negative feedback systems with inverted feedback signals. In these systems, the root locus encompasses all points on the s-plane where the angle of the system transfer function equals 360 degrees.
The construction rules for the root locus in positive feedback systems are similar to those in...
The construction rules for the root locus in positive feedback systems are similar to those in...
369
01:19Contact-dependent Signaling
48.2K
Contact-dependent signaling, as the name suggests, requires that communicating cells be in direct contact with each other. This is achieved either through receptor-ligand interactions or by specialized cytoplasmic channels that allow the flow of small molecules between cells. In animal cells, channels called gap junctions facilitate contact-dependent signaling in certain tissues, whereas, plasmodesmata perform a similar function in plants.
Gap Junctions
In animal cells, gap junctions are formed...
Gap Junctions
In animal cells, gap junctions are formed...
48.2K