Behavioral Cascades with Opposing Influences
| Speaker: | Hamid Mahini |
|---|---|
| Affiliation: | University of Maryland |
| Room: | Mathematics and Computer Building (MC) 5158 |
Abstract:
In
social
networks,
opinions
and
behaviors
tend
to
spread
quickly.
When
an
idea
seeks
to
gain
attention,
success
requires
both
appealing
to
individual
users
and
a
careful
understanding
of
cascading
behavior
–
an
idea
that
appeals
to
a
small
set
of
highly
influential
individuals
can
easily
overwhelm
an
idea
with
a
much
larger,
but
less
influential,
support
base.
Understanding
exactly
how
the
choices
of
individuals
propagate
through
a
network,
however,
poses
significant
challenges.
We
consider
a
model
recently
studied
by
Chierichetti,
Kleinberg,
and
Panconesi
(EC
2012)
to
model
cascading
behavior
when
members
of
a
social
network
must
each
choose
one
of
two
opposing
ideas.
The
model
captures
the
struggle
between
a
desire
to
follow
personal
preferences
and
to
match
the
choices
of
those
you
interact
with.
In
this
model,
observed
choices
can
look
much
different
than
the
underlying
preferences
of
individuals
in
the
social
network,
due
to
cascading
of
behavior
from
individuals
following
their
neighbors’
lead.
In
this
talk,
we
seek
to
answer
the
following
questions.
How
should
the
planner
design
a
schedule
considering
this
fact
that
positive
reaction
to
the
idea
in
early
choices
has
a
positive
impact
on
probability
of
success
in
later
choices,
whereas
a
flopped
reaction
has
exactly
the
opposite
impact?
Is
there
any
bound
on
adoption
rates
in
terms
of
underlying
preferences?