Network Facebook Research Articles

New concept of centrality measurement in fuzzy social networks

The most critical task of a social network is to identify a central node. Numerous methods for determining centrality are documented in the literature. It contributes to online commerce by disseminating news, advertisements and other content via central nodes. Existing methods capture the node’s direct reachability. This study introduces a novel method for quantifying centrality in a fuzzy environment. This measurement takes into account the reachability of nodes and their direct connections. Several critical properties have been demonstrated. A small Facebook network is used to illustrate the issue. Additionally, appropriate tables and graphs present a comparative study with existing methods for centrality measurement.

The Role of Facebook in Shaping Voting Behavior of Youth: Perspective of a Developing Country

This paper explores Facebook’s role in shaping the political perception of youth during the 2018 general elections in Pakistan. It also gauges the ideological standpoint of youth in Pakistan that influences their voting decisions. An online campaign has become an indispensable source for politicians to influence the masses without the constraints of distance and time. It is a quantitative study based on a questionnaire survey of young Pakistani voters. Findings show that Facebook has presumed the role of an instigator in shaping the voting behavior of educated youth. Respondents perceived Facebook as biased while expressing views and assisted political entities in manipulating the data to increase their vote bank. Though the majority of them haven’t experienced fake news so either they are not conscious or they trust blindly the information. Furthermore, respondents’ cognitive abilities are not obstructed by politicians using Facebook, instead, friends and family network seems more persuasive in determining voters’ choice. Results manifest that ideological standpoint impacts voters’ decisions substantially. There is no statistical difference in the voting behavior of respondents based on gender and/or age. The individuality of this study is that it focuses on the medium of communication between politicians and youth instead of emphasizing the social cleavages and their impact on voters’ decisions, which Pakistani scholars largely study. This study will prompt the field of psephology in Pakistan, which is largely ignored, and help scholars to move out of the domain of identity politics.

The Medium is the Messenger A Quantitative Study on the Relation between Social Media Services and Neighbourhood Social Interactions

Internet-based social networking services (ISNS) like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and others have revolutionized the way people connect, enabling interactions across great distances. This has sparked a debate about the impact of ISNS use on face-to-face contact, particularly within neighbourhoods. Some argue that ISNS diminish the significance of local physical place and hinder meaningful interactions, especially among neighbours. Conversely, others view ISNS as tools that foster new forms of connectedness and enhance relationships within neighbourhoods by creating opportunities to engage with existing peers. However, there is a significant knowledge gap regarding the varying effects of ISNS on offline social interaction within neighbourhoods. Do different ISNS, including messenger services, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and neighbourhood-specific social networks (e.g.nebenan.de), 1 have distinct effects on offline social interaction within neighbourhoods? Are there differences in usage between native residents and migrants? We analyse data from a 2022 postal survey conducted in two German cities (Essen and Cologne), involving 2, 676 residents in 166 neighbourhoods. The results from our multiple linear regression model show that the impact of different ISNS on social interactions varies. Messenger services and neighbourhood-specific social networks have a positive impact on social interactions within the neighbourhood. However, popular social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter do not significantly affect social interactions within the neighbourhood. Additionally, individuals from the native population do have more social interaction with their neighbours compared to those with a migration background.

POPULATION'S RADIATION ANXIETY STRUCTURE ANALYSIS FOR THE PRE-COVID-19 PERIOD

Introduction. A considerable amount of conflicting reports creates conditions for concern about the effects of radiation on health. The adequacy of the assessment of problems and responses to these challenges depends on the sources used by a person, his culture and education level, as well as the emotional overtone of this assessment.
 The aim of the study is to determine dynamic changes in the prevalence and structure of population’s radiation anxiety states under stable social conditions based on a psychological and hygienic assessment.
 Materials and methods: In order to research and assess the perception of Kropyvnytskyi residents about the degree and prevalence of radiation anxiety states, a survey was conducted on Facebook and Instagram social networks from February to December 2019 using Google Form. For assessment of dynamic changes in radiation anxiety, data from our own studies in 2014 were used [9]. The questionnaire methodology was based on the principles of the previously tested and patented "Methodology for determining radiation anxiety among the population" and the monograph "Radiation anxiety among the population". Three hundred and twenty four residents of Kropyvnytskyi aged 18 to 73 were included in the study, 155 (47.8%) men and 169 (52.2%) women. The average age of the interviewees (Me (LQ; HQ)) was 27 (20; 33) years old.
 Results. A specific psycho-emotional state is developed and maintained at some level in the residents of cities with nuclear power plants – radiation anxiety, which is manifested by a complex of neuropsychological and somato-physiological disorders against the fear of ionizing radiation sources background. At the same time, such a psychogenic effect may not be related to the degree of actual effects of ionizing radiation on human health. It was determined that in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's full armed aggression against Ukraine, more than 90% of the surveyed residents of Kropyvnytskyi, regardless of gender and age, were concerned about potential radiation pollution of the environment and foodstuffs, medium level of radiation anxiety was in 34,9%, and high level in 14.8% . Low radiation anxiety was detected in 41.4% of respondents, and in 8.9% it was absent.
 Conclusions. Over 5 years (from 2014 to 2019), there were noticeable negative changes in the structure of the radiation anxiety states among the surveyed urban residents, namely: the amount of people without signs of radiation anxiety halved (8.9% vs. 16.0%) and respondents with the high level of this psycho-emotional state increased almost four times (14.8% versus 3.9%). The obtained results encourage the authors to future studies of specific radiation anxiety states among the population to clarify their dynamics.

Complexity of the online distrust ecosystem and its evolution

Introduction: Collective human distrust—and its associated mis/disinformation—is one of the most complex phenomena of our time, given that approximately 70% of the global population is now online. Current examples include distrust of medical expertise, climate change science, democratic election outcomes—and even distrust of fact-checked events in the current Israel-Hamas and Ukraine-Russia conflicts.Methods: Here we adopt the perspective of the system being a complex dynamical network, in order to address these questions. We analyze a Facebook network of interconnected in-built communities (Facebook Page communities) totaling roughly 100 million users who, prior to the pandemic, were just focused on distrust of vaccines.Results: Mapping out this dynamical network from 2019 to 2023, we show that it has quickly self-healed in the wake of Facebook’s mitigation campaigns which include shutdowns. This confirms and extends our earlier finding that Facebook’s ramp-ups during COVID-19 were ineffective (e.g., November 2020). We also show that the post-pandemic network has expanded its topics and has developed a dynamic interplay between global and local discourses across local and global geographic scales.Discussion: Hence current interventions that target specific topics and geographical scales will be ineffective. Instead, our findings show that future interventions need to resonate across multiple topics and across multiple geographical scales. Unlike many recent studies, our findings do not rely on third-party black-box tools whose accuracy for rigorous scientific research is unproven, hence raising doubts about such studies’ conclusions–nor is our network built using fleeting hyperlink mentions which have questionable relevance.

FEMINISMO DE REDE: A MILITÂNCIA ON E OFF-LINE DE TRÊS JOVENS PROFESSORAS

ABSTRACT: The article investigates the militant practices of three young female teachers, active in multiple agendas and who use social media as a venue of resistance. Data were collected from a netnography carried out on these teachers' Facebook networks, followed by an interview. We submitted an ethical-political study, based on the concept of ethics by Michel Foucault. We understand that the teachers recognize their moral obligation to resist and defend, responding to a specific type of feminism, a networked feminism, which is based on alliances with other struggles. The teachers seem to bring tension to the school and its curriculum with themes and agendas of resistance and militancy, which generates debates. In addition, we identified a militant experience shaped by practices that rely on the transforming power of the small constraints and tensions produced in social networks and in life styles, and that are exposing attempts to degrade truths that are hard to be destabilized.

LEXICAL MEANS OF EXPRESSING VERBAL AGGRESSION IN SOCIAL NETWORKS (BASED ON THE MATERIALS OF COMMENTS ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER ON THE PAGES OF P. POROSHENKO AND V. ZELENSKY)

The article characterizes the lexical means of realizing the conflictual communicative behavior of social network users. The network comments presented on the official pages of Ukrainian politicians - the current President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi and the previous President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko - in the Facebook and Twitter social networks were considered. The concept of verbal aggression is defined as a means of implementing conflictual communicative behavior. The genre specificity of comments in social networks is outlined and the peculiarities of their functioning are determined. Lexical units, which are verbal markers of aggressive behavior of commentators in social networks, were analyzed. The purpose of the study is to identify the main lexical means of implementing verbal aggression in the political discourse of social networks. The object of analysis is the conflictual communicative behavior of social network users; the subject of the study is the verbal aggression of commentators on the official pages of Ukrainian politicians. The material for analysis was comments on posts on the official pages of Ukrainian politicians Volodymyr Zelenskyi and Petro Poroshenko on Facebook and Twitter for the year 2023. In total, more than 2,000 comments were analyzed. The lexical means of expressing verbal aggression were analyzed based on the material of those comments that characterize politicians, rather than direct communicators – supporters of one of the Ukrainian presidents. It has been proven that the main means of representing verbal aggression in comments to the posts of Ukrainian politicians on Facebook and Twitter are anthroponyms, stylistically reduced vocabulary, invectives, jargonisms and reminiscences and quotes of politicians’ speeches.

To Trust or Not to Trust? Exploring the Roles of Facebook and WhatsApp Use and Network Diversity

ABSTRACT Grounded in the theory of network-based social capital, this study examined and compared how Facebook and WhatsApp’s sociability use connected with generalized trust through the mediation of network diversity. Analyzing data from an online survey of 1,329 Hong Kong residents, this study found that Facebook’s sociability use had a positive indirect relationship with generalized trust through increased network diversity, whereas WhatsApp’s sociability use did not influence generalized trust. Those findings unraveled the divergent social implications possessed by different social media platforms and were further discussed from the network-centered perspective of social capital

Effect of Facebook news use on political attitudes and participation

Politics may be significantly impacted by how often people access Facebook news. Users' understanding and comprehension of political topics may improve as a result of being exposed to political headlines on Facebook, which may have an impact on how they feel and what they believe. Facebook users may be more inclined to have passionate opinions on political topics and engage in political activism if they often read political news on the social media platform. In this study, we examined the effects of Facebook network size, connections with public political actors, use for news, and political expression on political attitudes, protest, and participation. We did this by considering the Orientation Stimulus Reasoning Orientation Response (OSROR) framework for political engagement impacts into consideration. According to data from Hong Kong's (HK) whole population, a city that has one of the highest rates of Facebook adoption globally, structural equation analyses were carried out. Results indicated considering Facebook's size and connections to influential political leaders had an impact on users' engagement in Facebook news, expression, and effectiveness in both direct and indirect ways. Through political speech, Facebook news largely had indirect consequences. A discriminant function analysis also revealed that the most important factors for separating Facebook users from nonusers were age, education, and exposure to online news. This research has consequences for political campaigns and groups trying to enlist members on social media sites like Facebook.

Who’s missing out? The impact of digital networking behavior & social identity on PR job search outcomes

This study investigates how different aspects of social identity correlated with online networking and job search success. Undergraduates and recent graduates seeking public relations roles between 2020 and 2021 were surveyed (N = 355) for their early career job-seeking practices. The pre-existing lack of diversity in PR and the tendency to favor job candidates who are similar to the decision-maker means that the move to virtual relationship building and vetting may be especially impactful for diverse applicants. The results showed that networking was extremely important as over 94% of respondents found their position via networking of some sort. Respondents found roles most commonly via LinkedIn (57.5%), followed by other social media (49.9%). LinkedIn network size was positively correlated with more job offers, whereas Twitter and Facebook network sizes were insignificant. Those who identified as white used LinkedIn more and had more job offers than those who identified as BIPOC. Veterans and those receiving need-based assistance also reported having fewer job offers. This paper extends the strength of weak ties theory by demonstrating the importance of weak ties in digital networking in the PR industry. This research suggests that maintaining weak ties via LinkedIn is valuable for success in digital networking, particularly by growing a robust LinkedIn network and maintaining an active profile. Practical advice for PR educators and students illustrates how to enhance LinkedIn use to promote equity in digital networking. Moreover, the PR field may promote diversity among applicants and hires through mentoring, recruiting, and growing their own diverse digital network.

A Cross-Sectional Study Investigating the Tools and Resources Australian Medical Students Used to Support Their Mental Health During Covid-19

Background The mental health of medical students is notoriously poor, and with the additional challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, there has never been greater concern for the wellbeing of the current cohort. This cross-sectional study investigates the impact of lockdown coping strategies used by Australian medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic on their mental health improvement, including connecting with family and friends, exercise, using social media, and various other interests. Methods An anonymous questionnaire was shared in 2021 with medical students from all years via Facebook and General Practice Student Network’s communications during the COVID-19 pandemic. The impact of a variety of lockdown coping strategies utilized by participants was assessed using SPSS. Results There were 283 participants in this study, 69.6% of whom were females, 54.9% in their pre-clinical years, and 70.5% between the ages of 18-24. The results showed that nearly 80% of participants credited their mental health improvement to peri-lockdown strategies. The logistic regression analysis demonstrated that reading (non-medical books) and spending more time with family were the most notable peri-lockdown strategies associated with mental health improvement. Interestingly, some participants reported that some coping strategies decreased productivity, including TV shows and movies. Conclusions Our study found that lockdown coping strategies played an essential role in the improvement and maintenance of medical students’ mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, strategies that allowed students to socialize and engage in non-academic activities allowed them to cope with mental stressors more effectively

Advertising Alternative Cancer Treatments and Approaches on Meta Social Media Platforms: Content Analysis.

Alternative cancer treatment is associated with a greater risk of death than cancer patients undergoing conventional treatments. Anecdotal evidence suggests cancer patients view paid advertisements promoting alternative cancer treatment on social media, but the extent and nature of this advertising remain unknown. This context suggests an urgent need to investigate alternative cancer treatment advertising on social media. This study aimed to systematically analyze the advertising activities of prominent alternative cancer treatment practitioners on Meta platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Audience Network. We specifically sought to determine (1) whether paid advertising for alternative cancer treatment occurs on Meta social media platforms, (2) the strategies and messages of alternative cancer providers to reach and appeal to prospective patients, and (3) how the efficacy of alternative treatments is portrayed. Between December 6, 2021, and December 12, 2021, we collected active advertisements from alternative cancer clinics using the Meta Ad Library. The information collected included identification number, URL, active/inactive status, dates launched/ran, advertiser page name, and a screenshot (image) or recording (video) of the advertisement. We then conducted a content analysis to determine how alternative cancer providers communicate the claimed benefits of their services and evaluated how they portrayed alternative cancer treatment efficacy. We identified 310 paid advertisements from 11 alternative cancer clinics on Meta (Facebook, Instagram, or Messenger) marketing alternative treatment approaches, care, and interventions. Alternative cancer providers appealed to prospective patients through eight strategies: (1) advertiser representation as a legitimate medical provider (n=289, 93.2%); (2) appealing to persons with limited treatments options (n=203, 65.5%); (3) client testimonials (n=168, 54.2%); (4) promoting holistic approaches (n=121, 39%); (5) promoting messages of care (n=81, 26.1%); (6) rhetoric related to science and research (n=72, 23.2%); (7) rhetoric pertaining to the latest technology (n=63, 20.3%); and (8) focusing treatment on cancer origins and cause (n=43, 13.9%). Overall, 25.8% (n=80) of advertisements included a direct statement claiming provider treatment can cure cancer or prolong life. Our results provide evidence alternative cancer providers are using Meta advertising products to market scientifically unsupported cancer treatments. Advertisements regularly referenced "alternative" and "natural" treatment approaches to cancer. Imagery and text content that emulated evidence-based medical providers created the impression that the offered treatments were effective medical options for cancer. Advertisements exploited the hope of patients with terminal and poor prognoses by sharing testimonials of past patients who allegedly were cured or had their lives prolonged. We recommend that Meta introduce a mandatory, human-led authorization process that is not reliant upon artificial intelligence for medical-related advertisers before giving advertising permissions. Further research should focus on the conflict of interest between social media platforms advertising products and public health.

HEXACO Personality Factors and their Associations with Facebook use and Facebook Network Characteristics.

Personality factors affect the properties of 'offline' social networks, but how they are associated with the structural properties of online networks is still unclear. We investigated how the six HEXACO personality factors (Honesty-Humility, Emotionality, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness and Openness to Experience) relate to Facebook use and three objectively measured Facebook network characteristics - network size, density, and number of clusters. Participants (n = 107, mean age = 20.6, 66% female) extracted their Facebook networks using the GetNet app, completed the 60-item HEXACO questionnaire and the Facebook Usage Questionnaire. Users high in Openness to Experience spent less time on Facebook. Extraversion was positively associated with network size (number of Facebook Friends). These findings suggest that some personality factors are associated with Facebook use and the size of Facebook networks, and that personality is an important influence on both online and offline sociality.

Exploration of Salt Farmers’ E-Marketing Strategy: A Lesson from Madura Island, Indonesia

This study aims to explore various e-marketing strategies that salt farmers might use. The qualitative-descriptive method was chosen as the method used in this research. Researchers collected data by observing, conducting interviews, and documenting our studies. The method of analysis is known as descriptive-qualitative analysis. The findings indicated that salt farmers' knowledge of the various forms of e-marketing media was satisfactory. However, their expertise consisted just of knowledge, and they needed to learn how to make the most of the existing media to exploit it as a promotional tool. Although salt farmers are already familiar with many different media that can use as marketing media, the most excellent e-marketing technique for business uses only Facebook networking or social media marketing strategy.

THE EFFET OF USING SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES ON CULTURAL IDENTITY

The change that societies are witnessing today is the result of a number of technological, economic and social factors. Among the technological factors that have contributed to social change, we find social networking sites to networks that are an important factors in preparing the requirements for change by creating awareness in a person’s view of this society and the world the content that headdresses through news, Cultural, entertainment, or other messages, us accompanied with the passage of time by a change in mindsets and mindsets, which occur at an advanced stage in a change in the cultural structure as a whole , so that communication technology constitutes the infrastructure for the formulation and dissemination of cultures among its active members. Social networking sites are electronic means and means on the internet that allow their users a public space for communication through which individuals and communities can exchange benefits and experiences among themselves. And Algerian society is considered one of the relatively late societies in the use of social media, as the spread and actual use of it began among Algerian society since the mate nineties. And this use had positive effects, whether for the individual in his culture and knowledge resources, or for individuals in achieving communication scientific, cognitive, cultural and social in between, through the exchange of experiences, conversation, sympathy and discussion on many issues of concern to man in his daily love and in his social relations. but in addition to the positives that social media produces, it has many negatives that affect the individual and society alike, the most widespread phenomenon is the phenomenon of social, isolation of individuals and their attachment to the virtual community, which causes them to lose the ability to perform their social roles and responsibilities, this is reflected in the cultural identity of the individual whether language or religion or in terms of social relations customs and traditions therefore, this research paper comes to study the impact of these social networks on cultural identity in a field study of a group of young people who use the face book network a lot

A UNIFORM PLACEMENT OF ALTERS ON SPHERICAL SURFACE (U-PASS) FOR EGO-CENTRIC NETWORKS WITH COMMUNITY STRUCTURE AND ALTER ATTRIBUTES

An ego-centric network consists of a particular node (ego) that has relationships to all neighboring nodes (alters) in the network. Such network serves as an important tool to study the network structure of alters of the ego, and it is essential to present such network with good visualization. This work aims at introducing an efficient method, namely the Uniform Placement of Alters on Spherical Surface (U-PASS), to represent an ego-centric network so that all alters are scattered on the surface of the unit sphere uniformly. Unlike other simple uniformity that considers to maximize Euclidean distances among nodes, U-PASS is a three-stage method that spreads the alters with the consideration of existing edges among alters, no overlapping of node clusters, and node attribute information. Particle swarm optimization is employed to improve efficiency in node allocations. To guarantee the uniformity, we show the connection between our U-PASS to the minimum energy design on a two-dimensional flat plane with a specific gradient. Our simulation study shows good performance of U-PASS in terms of some distance statistics when compared to four state-of-the-art methods via self-organizing maps and force-driven approaches. We use a Facebook network to illustrate how this ego-centric network looks different after the alter nodes are allocated via our U-PASS.

Evaluation of Respondent-Driven Sampling Prevalence Estimators Using Real-World Reported Network Degree.

Respondent-driven sampling (RDS) is used to measure trait or disease prevalence in populations that are difficult to reach and often marginalized. The authors evaluated the performance of RDS estimators under varying conditions of trait prevalence, homophily, and relative activity. They used large simulated networks (N = 20,000) derived from real-world RDS degree reports and an empirical Facebook network (N = 22,470) to evaluate estimators of binary and categorical trait prevalence. Variability in prevalence estimates is higher when network degree is drawn from real-world samples than from the commonly assumed Poisson distribution, resulting in lower coverage rates. Newer estimators perform well when the sample is a substantive proportion of the population, but bias is present when the population size is unknown. The choice of preferred RDS estimator needs to be study specific, considering both statistical properties and knowledge of the population under study.

TriBeC: identifying influential users on social networks with upstream and downstream network centrality

The complex heterogeneous nature of social networks generates colossal user data, hence requiring exhaustive efforts to accelerate the propagation of information. This necessitates the identification of central nodes that are considered substantial for information spread and control. Our research proposes a novel centrality metric, TriBeC to identify the significant nodes in online social networks by utilizing the impact of weighted betweenness extended with network quartiles. The proposed approach introduces a user data-driven centrality measure for the discovery of influential nodes in online social networks. This is based on locating the median with the information flowing upstream and downstream, thereby considering the impact of border nodes lying farthest in the network circumference. Experimental outcomes on Twitter, Facebook, BlogCatalog, Scale-free and Random networks show the outperforming results of topmost 1% TriBeC central nodes over existing counterparts in terms of the percentage of the network being infested with information over time.

The effects of facebook use on network social capital and subjective well-being: A generational cohort analysis from the Taiwan social change survey

With high penetration rate of social media, the influence of social media use on individuals and society has become an imperative area of research. By leveraging Taiwan national survey data on social change, this study aims to explore the effect of Facebook use on network social capital and subjective well-being across generations, and the moderating effect of generations. The findings show that (1). Facebook use may not significantly directly contribute to subjective well-being; (2) Facebook use may significantly contribute to users’ accrual of network social capital; (3). Network social capital can increase subjective well-being; (4). Network social capital mediates the relationship between Facebook use and subjective well-being and, (5). Generational membership may partially moderate the relationships between Facebook use and network social capital, and the indirect relationship between Facebook use and subjective well-being.

Influential Spreaders Identification in Complex Networks With TOPSIS and K-Shell Decomposition

In view that the K-shell decomposition method can only effectively identify a single most influential node, but cannot accurately identify a group of most influential nodes, this article proposes a hybrid method based on K-shell decomposition to identify the most influential spreaders in complex networks. First, the K-shell decomposition method is used to decompose the network, and the network is regarded as a hierarchical structure from the inner core to the periphery core. Second, the existing centrality methods such as H-index are used as the secondary score of the proposed method to select nodes in each hierarchy of the network. In addition, for the sake of alleviating the overlapping problem, the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method is introduced to calculate the comprehensive score of secondary score and overlapping range, and the node with the highest comprehensive score will be selected in each round. The proposed algorithm can be used as a general framework to improve the existing centrality method which can represent nodes with definite values of centrality. Experimental results show that in the susceptible–infected–recovered (SIR) model experiment, compared with the benchmark methods, the infection scale of the proposed K-TOPSIS method in nine real networks is improved by 1.15%, 2.23%, 1.95%, 3.12%, 6.29%, −0.37%, 4.01%, 0.48%, and 0.48%, respectively. The novel method is improved by 0.44, 1.18, 1.16, 11.30, 2.03, 2.53, 2.70, and 2.13 in average shortest path length experiment, respectively, except for Facebook network. It shows that the novel method is reasonable and effective.