Lifespan and propagation of information in On-line Social Networks: A case study based on Reddit

Abstract

Since 1950, information flows have been in the center of scientific research. Up until the Internet penetration in the late 1990s, these information flow studies were based on traditional offline social networks. From the first Online Social Network studies, various observations of “offline” information flows, such as the two-step flow of communication and the importance of weak ties, were verified in several “online” studies, also indicating that information flows from one Online Social Network (OSN) to several others. Within that flow, information is shared with and reproduced, by users of each network. Furthermore, the original content is enhanced or weakened according to its topic, as well as the dynamic nature and exposure of each Online Social Networks (OSNs). In such an informational connected environment, each OSN is considered as a layer of information flows, which interacts with other layers. We examine information flows in several social networks, as well as their diffusion and lifespan, across these networks, based on user-generated content. Our results verify the information connection in various OSNs and provide a measurement of shared information lifetime in multiple OSNs.