Lifespan and propagation of information in On-line Social Networks a Case Study
This research addresses how information spreads in online social networks, but it is incremental as it builds on existing offline and online studies.
The study examined the lifespan and propagation of user-generated content across multiple online social networks, verifying that information flows between networks and is influenced by topic and network dynamics.
Since 1950, information flows have been in the centre of scientific research. Up until internet penetration in the late 90s, these studies were based over traditional offline social networks. Several observations in offline information flows studies, such as two-step flow of communication and the importance of weak ties, were verified in several online studies, showing that the diffused information flows from one Online Social Network (OSN) to several others. Within that flow, information is shared to and reproduced by the users of each network. Furthermore, the original content is enhanced or weakened according to its topic, the dynamic and exposure of each OSNs. In such a concept, each OSN is considered a layer of information flows that interacts with each other. In this paper, we examine such flows in several social networks, as well as their diffusion and lifespan across multiple OSNs, in terms of user-generated content. Our results verify the perception of content and information connection in various OSNs.