Information propagation on the Web 2.0 : two essays on the propagation of user-generated content and how it is affected by social networks / Mark Elsner
Preface; Table of Content; List of Figures; List of Tables; Essay I: Spreading the Word -- Assessing the Factors that Determine the Popularity of User-generated Content; Abstract; 1. Introduction; 2. User-generated Content and the Web 2.0; 2.1 Relevance; 2.2 Definition; 3. Relevant concepts and literature; 3.1 Marketing relevance; 3.2 Motivation to participate; 3.3 Opinion Leadership; 4. Conceptual Framework and Hypotheses; 4.1 Conceptual Framework; 4.2 Hypotheses; 4.2.1 Size of the submitter network; 4.2.2 Structure of submitter networks; 4.2.3 Cascades; 5. Source network and data
5.1 Source network structure5.2 The data; 6. Findings; 6.1 Descriptive results; 6.1.1 Dynamics of overall voting pattern; 6.1.2 Distribution of popular stories; 6.1.3 Categorical analysis; 6.1.4 Network size and structure; 6.2 Empirical model and results; 6.2.1 Survival analysis; 6.2.2 Model specifications; 6.2.3 Model results for network size and structure; 6.2.4 Model results for user activity; 6.2.5 Model results for content analysis; 6.3 Results for global cascades; 6.4 Network analysis; 7. Conclusions; 7.1 Discussion of results; 7.2 Limitations and future research
Essay 2: How Social Networks Develop on the Web 2.01. Introduction; 2. Utility of networks; 3. Development of egocentric network; 3.1 General network formation; 3.2 Initial stage; 3.3 Tie strength; 4. Conclusion; References; Appendices; Appendix 1: Data collection and transformation; Appendix 2: Additional figures and tables
Summary
The diffusion of the Internet has considerably changed the basic principles of information exchange into a structure that is now enabling user-driven information propagation across most markets that was not possible in the previous era of unidirectional mass communication. This study focuses on the submitters' social networks to explain these new propagation processes. Large datasets from a social news site are used to show that it is the size, structure and activity of such networks that mainly influence whether or not certain content achieves a prominent level. Message and content-related factors seem of only marginal importance - at least until the respective content exceeds a threshold of public attention
