Modeling Echo Chambers and Polarization Dynamics in Social Networks

Autor(es)

Baumann, Fabian ^[1] ; Lorenz-Spreen, Philipp ^[2] ; Sokolov, Igor M. ^{[1, 3]} ; Starnini, Michele ^[4]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Humboldt Univ, Inst Phys, Newtonstr 15, D-12489 Berlin - Germany

^[2] Max Planck Inst Human Dev, Ctr Adapt Rational, Lentzeallee 94, D-14195 Berlin - Germany

^[3] Humboldt Univ, IRIS Adlershof, Newtonstr 15, D-12489 Berlin - Germany

^[4] ISI Fdn, Via Chisola 5, I-10126 Turin - Italy

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: Physical Review Letters; v. 124, n. 4 JAN 27 2020.
• Citações Web of Science: 0

Resumo

Echo chambers and opinion polarization recently quantified in several sociopolitical contexts and across different social media raise concerns on their potential impact on the spread of misinformation and on the openness of debates. Despite increasing efforts, the dynamics leading to the emergence of these phenomena remain unclear. We propose a model that introduces the dynamics of radicalization as a reinforcing mechanism driving the evolution to extreme opinions from moderate initial conditions. Inspired by empirical findings on social interaction dynamics, we consider agents characterized by heterogeneous activities and homophily. We show that the transition between a global consensus and emerging radicalized states is mostly governed by social influence and by the controversialness of the topic discussed. Compared with empirical data of polarized debates on Twitter, the model qualitatively reproduces the observed relation between users' engagement and opinions, as well as opinion segregation in the interaction network. Our findings shed light on the mechanisms that may lie at the core of the emergence of echo chambers and polarization in social media. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 15/50122-0 - Fenômenos dinâmicos em redes complexas: fundamentos e aplicações
• Beneficiário: Elbert Einstein Nehrer Macau
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Temático