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Abstract
The potential of microblogging networks to spread information, ideas, and influence via social links has been recognized. Individuals at central or critical positions in the microblogging networks are expected to play an important role in spreading information, but this belief must be tested with empirical investigations in actual information dissemination. Furthermore, it is possible that individuals with different types of structural importance influence the information dissemination in different ways. This article examines the impact of five structural properties (degree, betweenness, closeness, tie strength, and k-value) on information dissemination capabilities by tracking the dissemination of 150 messages in Sina Weibo. The results highlight the importance of betweenness centrality, which best explains the influence on information dissemination distance and coverage size. It also best predicts the information dissemination efficiency. Degree centrality is found to be a strong predictor of one’s influence among immediate followers. Tie strength negatively correlates with influence on the information dissemination distance and coverage size. These structural properties address different aspects of the information dissemination power and should be used in a complementary way when planning information dissemination strategies in microblogging systems.
Notes
2. 1There were three types of communications between Weibo users that were publicly visible: 1. Reposting posts of another user; 2. Referring to another user using “@” in posts; 3. Commenting on posts of another user. We captured all three types of data.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Qin Gao
Qin Gao, Ph.D., is currently an associate professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering at Tsinghua University, Beijing, P.R. China. Her main research includes universal design, social computing, cognitive ergonomics, and human–computer interaction in complex systems.
Chao Sun
Chao Sun was a graduate student in the Department of Industrial Engineering at Tsinghua University, Beijing, P.R. China. He received his bachelor’s degree at the same school in 2008. He has been part of a human factors and ergonomics research group under the supervision of Dr. Qin Gao since 2008.
Chunyan Yang
Chunyan Yang was a graduate student in the Department of Industrial Engineering at Tsinghua University, Beijing, P.R. China. She now works in China Petroleum Materials Corporation.