COMPUTATIONAL SOCIAL SCIENCE AT WORK
Life Cycle of an Online Social NetworkiWiW was launched in 2002, got the most visited website and peaked in the middle of 2000s but then failed the competition with new online social networks and thus was closed down in 2014.
This Symposium presents findings of a 3 year OTKA research project on the life cycle of iWiW demonstrating various interdisciplinary approaches of the emerging field of Computational Social Sciences (CSS). |
Program
9:30 – 9:40
Tamás Rudas Director General, (MTA TK)
Opening remarks
Tamás Rudas Director General, (MTA TK)
Opening remarks
9:40 – 09:50
bÁLINT NAGY HEAD OF DEPARTMENT (ibs)
OPENING REMARKS
bÁLINT NAGY HEAD OF DEPARTMENT (ibs)
OPENING REMARKS
9:50 – 10:00
BENCE SÁGVÁRI (MTA TK, IBS)
INTRODUCTION TO THE “LIFE-CYCLE OF AN ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORK” RESEARCH PROJECT
BENCE SÁGVÁRI (MTA TK, IBS)
INTRODUCTION TO THE “LIFE-CYCLE OF AN ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORK” RESEARCH PROJECT
10:00 – 10:20
BALÁZS LENGYEL (MTA KRTK, IBS)
SPATIAL DIFFUSION AND CHURN OVER THE LIFE-CYCLE OF IWIW
BALÁZS LENGYEL (MTA KRTK, IBS)
SPATIAL DIFFUSION AND CHURN OVER THE LIFE-CYCLE OF IWIW
Social networks are used to study the spread of innovative ideas, products or services. However, it is not fully understood how social contagion happens in space over the life-cycle of products, and how churn happens in spatial social networks. In this paper, we use a unique dataset compiled from a Hungarian on-line social network (OSN) that was established in early 2000s and failed international competition a decade later. We find that the OSN was adopted early in large towns where churn also happened early. A complex contagion model resembles global diffusion; however, this is not true regarding spatial prediction. The model differs from reality regarding assortativity of adoption time, urban scaling of adoption over the product life-cycle and distance decay as well. Finally, we observe that users tend to follow the churn of nearby friends but are less influenced by the churn of distant friends.
10:20 – 10:40
ÁKOS JAKOBI (ELTE)
DOES GEOGRAPHY MATTER IN ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORK STRUCTURES?
ÁKOS JAKOBI (ELTE)
DOES GEOGRAPHY MATTER IN ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORK STRUCTURES?
However early theoretical works dealing with the effects of information communication technologies on people’s relation to spatiality claim that distance is no longer important in the information age, there are on the contrary many empirical results stressing the importance of geographical factors. From GIS-based examples of network development to the proximity-focused statistical analysis of the spatial structure our calculations highlighted that distance-driven processes have been predominant in city-to-city diffusion of online social networks. Calculations such as the average strength of connectivity or average relative distance rates of cities also confirmed that geography matters, namely that spatial distance had decisive impact on the structure of such networks.
10:40 – 11:00
JÚLIA KOLTAI (ELTE/MTA TK), BENCE SÁGVÁRI (MTA TK, IBS)
THEORY IN PRACTICE. DIFFUSION OF AN INNOVATION IN SOCIAL AND PHYSICAL SPACE
JÚLIA KOLTAI (ELTE/MTA TK), BENCE SÁGVÁRI (MTA TK, IBS)
THEORY IN PRACTICE. DIFFUSION OF AN INNOVATION IN SOCIAL AND PHYSICAL SPACE
The early period of an OSN is closely related to the widely studied phenomenon of diffusion of innovations. Most of the studies were limited to modest fractions of the original network, however in our case we gained access to the complete set of the iWiW data. Therefore our research question is how was iWiW adopted during the period of 2002-2013 and what were the underlying social factors behind the process of diffusion?
Due to the availability of some demographic data, we will be able to identify and analyse influencing factors in the diffusion process, such as age, gender and geographical socio-economic attributes. As a part of an ongoing interdisciplinary research project, our presentation will focus on the theory- and empirical-based diffusion processes, but at the same time we will raise some methodological dilemmas of using massive online social networking data as well.
Due to the availability of some demographic data, we will be able to identify and analyse influencing factors in the diffusion process, such as age, gender and geographical socio-economic attributes. As a part of an ongoing interdisciplinary research project, our presentation will focus on the theory- and empirical-based diffusion processes, but at the same time we will raise some methodological dilemmas of using massive online social networking data as well.
COFFEE BREAK
11:20– 11:40
BENCE SÁGVÁRI (MTA TK, IBS), BALÁZS LENGYEL (MTA KRTK, IBS)
SOCIAL NETWORKS AND ECONOMIC DISPARITIES IN CITIES
BENCE SÁGVÁRI (MTA TK, IBS), BALÁZS LENGYEL (MTA KRTK, IBS)
SOCIAL NETWORKS AND ECONOMIC DISPARITIES IN CITIES
In this presentation we use geo-located online social network data and search for correlation between network variables and economic disparities in towns of Hungary. By identifying the weakly and strongly connected components of the network we are able to add an additional layer to our understanding for interpreting regional economic and social disparities. We define “open” and “closed” communities and build models to interpret the differences in their country-level connectedness and non-network related socio-economic indicators. We expect a vicious cycle where low level of economic development is hindering appropriate network formation; and also, highly fragmented and segregated networks are preventing the realization of their economic potential.
11:40 – 12:00
JÁNOS TÖRÖK (BME TTK)
PREDICTING USER PROPERTIES FROM EGOCENTRIC NETWORK
JÁNOS TÖRÖK (BME TTK)
PREDICTING USER PROPERTIES FROM EGOCENTRIC NETWORK
12:00 - 12:20
JÁNOS KERTÉSZ (CEU CNS)
CASCADING COLLAPSE OF AN ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORK
JÁNOS KERTÉSZ (CEU CNS)
CASCADING COLLAPSE OF AN ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORK
Online social networks have increasing influence on our society, they may play decisive roles in politics and can be crucial for the fate of companies. Such services compete with each other and some may even break down rapidly. Using social network datasets we show the main factors leading to such a dramatic collapse. At early stage mostly the loosely bound users disappear, later collective effects play the main role leading to cascading failures. We present a theory based on a generalised threshold model to explain the findings and show how the collapse time can be estimated in advance using the dynamics of the churning users. Our results shed light to possible mechanisms of instabilities in other competing social processes.
12:20 – 12:40
JÚLIA KOLTAI (ELTE/MTA TK) – LÁSZLÓ LŐRINCZ (MTA KRTK)
COLLAPSE OF AN ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORK: THE ROLE OF SOCIAL CAPITAL
JÚLIA KOLTAI (ELTE/MTA TK) – LÁSZLÓ LŐRINCZ (MTA KRTK)
COLLAPSE OF AN ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORK: THE ROLE OF SOCIAL CAPITAL
The last decade has shown that sometimes even the biggest online social networks (OSN) collapse. Significant cascading mechanisms have been identified in the pattern of abandoning the OSN iWiW at its peak of popularity and after. We set out to examine the key actors who were the first to leave their networks by contrasting explanations based on preserving accumulated social capital vs. building new social capital with motives influenced by innovativeness. Using heterogeneous choice models, we found that a higher number of connections as well as less clustered ego-networks hindered early abandonment while user innovativeness was only a secondary factor.
LUNCH
Answer to question 11
13:30 – 15:00
INTRODUCTORY PRESENTATION OF THE ALGORITHMED PUBLIC SPHERES (APS) PROJECT
INTRODUCTORY PRESENTATION OF THE ALGORITHMED PUBLIC SPHERES (APS) PROJECT
This part of the program is the public debate of the research plan developed by members of the APS research group.
Until recently, the term algorithm has only been used by people working in the field of mathematics and computer technology. Nowadays it has become one of the key words of digitalization and the data-driven world around us and is now an integral part of public speech. As a result, more and more people are aware of algorithms influencing certain aspects of our lives. Algorithms are present almost everywhere in the digital world where patterns are to be found, users are to be categorized and ranked, behaviors are to be predicted and based on all these information automatic decisions are to be made or prepared for “real people” with huge amounts of data. As for the order of magnitude of the possible social consequences it is a fairly new phenomenon. Therefore, the aim of the project is to uncover some of the underlying mechanisms that shape the current and future use of algorithms in society.
Until recently, the term algorithm has only been used by people working in the field of mathematics and computer technology. Nowadays it has become one of the key words of digitalization and the data-driven world around us and is now an integral part of public speech. As a result, more and more people are aware of algorithms influencing certain aspects of our lives. Algorithms are present almost everywhere in the digital world where patterns are to be found, users are to be categorized and ranked, behaviors are to be predicted and based on all these information automatic decisions are to be made or prepared for “real people” with huge amounts of data. As for the order of magnitude of the possible social consequences it is a fairly new phenomenon. Therefore, the aim of the project is to uncover some of the underlying mechanisms that shape the current and future use of algorithms in society.
Venue |
Registration |
The event will be hosted at
MTA Társadalomtudományi Kutatóközpont (MTA TK) 1092 Budapest, Tóth Kálmán u. 4. |
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