The effects of network structure, competition and memory time on social spreading phenomena
Abstract
Online social media have greatly affected the way in which we communicate with each other. However, little is known about what are the fundamental mechanisms driving dynamical information flow in online social systems. Here, we introduce a generative model for online sharing behavior that is analytically tractable and which can reproduce several characteristics of empirical micro-blogging data on hashtag usage, such as (time-dependent) heavy-tailed distributions of meme popularity. The presented framework constitutes a null model for social spreading phenomena which, in contrast to purely empirical studies or simulation-based models, clearly distinguishes the roles of two distinct factors affecting meme popularity: the memory time of users and the connectivity structure of the social network.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1501.05956,
title = {The effects of network structure, competition and memory time on social spreading phenomena},
author = {James P. Gleeson and Kevin P. O'Sullivan and Raquel A. Baños and Yamir Moreno},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1501.05956},
year = {2016}
}
Comments
This revised version accepted for publication in Physical Review X; note title has changed from the original "Determinants of Meme Popularity"