OPINION DYNAMICS AND COMMUNICATION NETWORKS

Sven Banisch (), Tanya Araújo and Jorge Louçã ()
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Sven Banisch: Institute for Complexity Science (ICC), 1649-026 Lisbon, Portugal;
Jorge Louçã: Institute for Complexity Science (ICC), 1649-026 Lisbon, Portugal;

Advances in Complex Systems (ACS), 2010, vol. 13, issue 01, 95-111

Abstract: This paper examines the interplay of opinion exchange dynamics and communication network formation. An opinion formation procedure is introduced which is based on an abstract representation of opinions ask-dimensional bit-strings. Individuals interact if the difference in the opinion strings is below a defined similarity thresholddI. Depending ondI, different behavior of the population is observed: low values result in a state of highly fragmented opinions and higher values yield consensus. The first contribution of this research is to identify the values of parametersdIandk, such that the transition between fragmented opinions and homogeneity takes place. Then, we look at this transition from two perspectives: first by studying the group size distribution and second by analyzing the communication network that is formed by the interactions that take place during the simulation. The emerging networks are classified by statistical means and we find that nontrivial social structures emerge from simple rules for individual communication. Generating networks allows to compare model outcomes with real-world communication patterns.

Keywords: Opinion dynamics; social networks; co-evolution; computational models; artificial societies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Working Paper: Opinion Dynamics and Communication Networks (2009)
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DOI: 10.1142/S0219525910002438

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