Measuring network rationality and simulating information diffusion based on network structure

Hao Gong, Chunxiang Guo and Yu Liu

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 2021, vol. 564, issue C

Abstract: The absence of rationality in online public discussions leads to many negative problems, such as cyber violence, which often causes serious psychological harm to the people involved in public opinions. The participants in online discussions constitute a complex network system; however, until now, there are few studies that have proposed a definition and measurement of network rationality from a systematic perspective, which makes us unable to assess the rationality of a network reasonably. In this paper, we propose a definition and measurement of network rationality. Then, we build a model based on the fraction of rational nodes and homophily to simulate the generation of social networks, and we reveal their influence on network rationality and irrational information diffusion on a network. Our preliminary results show that a network with higher rationality will create a ”virtuous circle” more easily than a network with lower rationality, even if they have exactly the same initial number of rational nodes. In addition, the higher the rationality of a network is, the weaker the influence of the irrational information on the network will be.

Keywords: Network rationality; Cyber violence; Irrational information; Information diffusion; Homophily (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:564:y:2021:i:c:s0378437120307998

DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2020.125501

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