Comparing the diversity of information by word-of-mouth vs. web spread
Abstract
Many studies have explored spreading and diffusion through complex networks. The following study examines a specific case of spreading of opinions in modern society through two spreading schemes, defined as being either through word-of-mouth (WOM), or through online search engines (WEB). We apply both modelling and real experimental results and compare the opinions people adopt through an exposure to their friend`s opinions, as opposed to the opinions they adopt when using a search engine based on the PageRank algorithm. A simulated study shows that when members in a population adopt decisions through the use of the WEB scheme, the population ends up with a few dominant views, while other views are barely expressed. In contrast, when members adopt decisions based on the WOM scheme, there is a far more diverse distribution of opinions in that population. The simulative results are further supported by an online experiment which finds that people searching information through a search engine end up with far more homogenous opinions as compared to those asking their friends.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1605.01378,
title = {Comparing the diversity of information by word-of-mouth vs. web spread},
author = {Alon Sela and Louis Shekhtman and Shlomo Havlin and Irad Ben-Gal},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1605.01378},
year = {2017}
}