Physics – Physics and Society
Scientific paper
2011-11-23
S. Gonz\'alez-Bail\'on, J. Borge-Holthoefer, A. Rivero and Y. Moreno. The Dynamics of Protest Recruitment through an Online Ne
Physics
Physics and Society
Main text: 20 pages, 4 figures; Supplementary Information: 17 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables
Scientific paper
10.1038/srep00197
The recent wave of mobilizations in the Arab world and across Western countries has generated much discussion on how digital media is connected to the diffusion of protests. We examine that connection using data from the surge of mobilizations that took place in Spain in May 2011. We study recruitment patterns in the Twitter network and find evidence of social influence and complex contagion. We identify the network position of early participants (i.e. the leaders of the recruitment process) and of the users who acted as seeds of message cascades (i.e. the spreaders of information). We find that early participants cannot be characterized by a typical topological position but spreaders tend to me more central to the network. These findings shed light on the connection between online networks, social contagion, and collective dynamics, and offer an empirical test to the recruitment mechanisms theorized in formal models of collective action.
Borge-Holthoefer Javier
González-Bailón Sandra
Moreno Yamir
Rivero Alejandro
No associations
LandOfFree
The Dynamics of Protest Recruitment through an Online Network does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with The Dynamics of Protest Recruitment through an Online Network, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The Dynamics of Protest Recruitment through an Online Network will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-378141