Hyperlink Network Research Articles

Spectral properties of Google matrix of Wikipedia and other networks

We study the properties of eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the Google matrix of the Wikipedia articles hyperlink network and other real networks. With the help of the Arnoldi method we analyze the distribution of eigenvalues in the complex plane and show that eigenstates with significant eigenvalue modulus are located on well defined network communities. We also show that the correlator between PageRank and CheiRank vectors distinguishes different organizations of information flow on BBC and Le Monde web sites.

Inferring international dotcom Web communities by link and content analysis

This study investigates international hyperlink networks and their content in terms of the .com domain, the most ubiquitous generic top-level domain, to examine the kinds of global websites that are linked to .com, what the linked contents are, and who are dealing with the hyperlinks. The results show the hyperlink network of websites with outgoing hyperlinks to .com websites indicates the dominant centrality of the U.S., whereas that of those with incoming hyperlinks from .com websites illustrates a core–periphery structure centered about the U.S. and other superpowers. The most globalized topics covered by websites linked to .com websites are business, the Internet and computers, recreation and entertainment, and personal interests. Many of the websites with outgoing hyperlinks to .com websites use only one non-English language. The predominant use of English by websites with outgoing hyperlinks to .com websites demonstrates the centrality of countries using English as the mother language in hyperlinked societies on the Web. The implications of these findings and further research are discussed.

Networked campaigns: Traffic tags and cross platform analysis on the web

This article defines a new methodological framework to examine emerging forms of political campaigning on and across Web 2.0 platforms i.e. Facebook, Youtube, Twitter in the North-American context. The proposed method seeks to identify the new strategies that make use of campaign texts, users, keywords, information networks and software code to spread a political communications and rally voters across distributed, and therefore seemingly unmanageable spheres of online communication. The proposed method differentiates itself from previous Web 1.0 methods focused on mapping hyperlinked networks. In particular, we pay attention to the new materiality of the Web 2.0 as constituted by shared objects that circulate across modular platforms. In this paper we develop an object-centered method through the concept of traffic tags --unique identifiers that by enabling the circulation of web objects across platforms organize political activity online. By tracing the circulation of traffic tags, we can map different sets of relationships among uploaded and shared web objects text, images, videos, etc., political actors online partisans, political institutions, bloggers, etc., and web based platforms social network sites, search engines, political websites, blogs, etc..

Corporate hyperlink network relationships in global corporate social responsibility system

This study analyzed the hyperlink (co-link) network structure among companies in global Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) system. This study measured network variables such as density and centrality, including degree centrality, eigenvector centrality, closeness, and betweenness. The results indicated that European companies had relatively central roles in the global CSR system. In addition the higher performing companies are more active their CSR practices. Also, the results revealed that the industrial type of companies was not significantly associated with its CSR practices.

Towards a hyperlinked society: A critical review of link studies

The hyperlink is a fundamental feature of the web. This paper investigates how hyperlinks have been used as research objects in social sciences. Reviewing a body of literature belonging to sociology, political sciences, information sciences, geography or media studies, it particularly reflects on the study of hyperlinks as indicators of other social phenomena. Why are links counted and hyperlink networks measured? How are links interpreted? The paper then focuses on barriers and limitations to the study of links. It addresses the issue of unobtrusiveness, the importance of interpreting links in context, and the possibilities of large-scale, automatic link studies. We finally argue that beyond the apparent diversity and ad hoc methodologies that the reviewed studies propose, a unified framework exists. It combines quantitative link counts, qualitative inquiries and valuation of field expertise to support link interpretation.

Local Governance and the Online Networked Public Sphere—A Case Study

ABSTRACT What are the prospects for the Web enhancing the local governance process by providing a networked public sphere? This article addresses this question by researching online local civic activity associated with a case study of a UK local government referendum. Drawing upon social network analysis theory, this research first of all applies relational hyperlink analysis to map and structurally analyze the hyperlinked network. Second, it draws upon a network ethnography approach to identify and then interview key actors associated with this network. The results suggest a need for policy intervention to counter the distinct homophily effects and “politics as usual” scenario uncovered in the local online network.

The Evolution of the HIV/AIDS NGO Hyperlink Network

Hyperlink networks are dynamic systems of representational communication. In order to understand the varied influences on processes that produce these systems, this research examines the evolution of a HIV/AIDS nongovernmental organization (NGO) hyperlink network over one year. The results demonstrate that different factors influence the rate of variation, selection, and retention of hyperlinks. The presence of a greater number of corporate or government hyperlinks to a NGO Website is related to the rate of variation. Network embeddedness and issue network participation are related to the selection of hyperlinks. Finally, indegree centrality and issue network participation are related to hyperlink retention. Implications for the study of hyperlink networks as dynamic representational communication systems are drawn from the results. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Social Issue Emergence on the Web: A Dual Structurational Model

In this paper, we unravel the complex ontological relationship between the empirical hyperlink networks enacted by strategic organizational actors and the epistemic issue networks enacted by decision makers who navigate hyperlinks to construct the boundaries of an issue. To conceptualize this relationship, we present a dual structurational model of issue network emergence that demonstrates the processes by which decision makers come to read and structure their comprehension of an issue out of their experience navigating a hyperlink network. We then discuss how the emergence of an issue network from a hyperlink network has consequences for both the decision makers that wish to act on the social issue and the organizational actors who create links. The model is demonstrated using the Chicago Climate Action Plan, a climate change initiative underway in Chicago, as an abbreviated case study. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A Hyperlink and Semantic Network Analysis of the Triple Helix (University-Government-Industry): The Interorganizational Communication Structure of Nanotechnology

This study investigates the interorganizational communication structures of the academic, private, and public sectors of nanotechnology in cyberspace. Few studies have examined systematically the ways these three major sectors contribute to the social construction of nanotechnology. The current study examines hyperlink and semantic networks of nanotechnology websites. Results show that academic websites revealed specific aspects of nanotechnology such as the uses and scales (units) of nanotechnology. However, the business sector exhibited a salient clustering of words regarding the developers and possible applications of nanotechnology. In hyperlink networks, the industry website nanobot.blogspot.com demonstrated high centrality. There were transitive and cyclic linkages among the 3 sectors. Findings offer important implications for the social construction of nanotechnology. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Recommendation Networks and the Long Tail of Electronic Commerce

It has been conjectured that the peer-based recommendations associated with electronic commerce lead to a redistribution of demand from popular products or blockbusters to less popular or niche products, and that electronic markets will therefore be characterized by a of demand and revenue. We test this conjecture using the revenue distributions of books in over 200 distinct categories on Amazon.com and detailed daily snapshots of co-purchase recommendation networks in which the products of these categories are situated. We measure how much a product is influenced by its position in this hyperlinked network of recommendations using a variant of Google's PageRank measure of centrality. We then associate the average influence of the network on each category with the inequality in the distribution of its demand and revenue, quantifying this inequality using the Gini coefficient derived from the category's Lorenz curve. We establish that categories whose products are influenced more by the recommendation network have significantly flatter demand and revenue distributions, even after controlling for variation in average category demand, category size, and price differentials. Our empirical findings indicate that doubling the average network influence on a category is associated with an average increase of about 50 percent in the relative revenue for the least popular 20 percent of products, and with an average reduction of about 15 percent in the relative revenue for the most popular 20 percent of products. We also show that this effect is enhanced by higher assortative mixing and lower clustering in the network, and is greater in categories whose products are more evenly influenced by recommendations. The direction of these results persists over time, across both demand and revenue distributions, and across both daily and weekly demand aggregations. Our work illustrates how the microscopic economic data revealed by online networks can be used to define and answer new kinds of research questions, offers a fresh perspective on the influence of networked IT artifacts on business outcomes, and provides novel empirical evidence about the impact of visible recommendations on the long tail of electronic commerce.

The Flow of Digital News in a Network of Sources, Authorities, and Hubs

This article presents an analysis of the flow of information in a network of online news sites. Social network theory and research on hyperlinked networks of Web pages are used to develop a model of information flow among Web sites. Kleinberg's authority-hub model is extended by introducing sources of information in the network. Significant support was found for a Source–Authority–Hub model, which shows the source, directionality, routing, and destination of news information flow through a network of authorities and hubs. This model demonstrates the ability of key Web sites to control the flow of news and information. Applications of the model to over-time data have the potential to predict future changes in the online news industry.

Mediated relations: new methods to study online social capital

The Web has expanded the research agenda for communication scholars to study social capital. In this field of Internet studies, new indicators of social behavior and social relations have surfaced to describe and understand how social capital develops online and what the consequences are for social capital in general. Specifically, Web 2.0 as characterized by User Generated Content on weblogs and the enormously popular social network sites significantly increased the importance of studying online social capital. To study online social capital, traditional and new means of data collection and analysis can be used. This study focuses on the origins of the concept of social capital, how it is used in communication studies, and the means to measure social capital. Furthermore, two examples of studying online behavior and online social relations are provided to represent webometric tools for data collection and analysis: (1) the analysis of hyperlinks between political actors' websites in South Korea, and (2) semantic network analysis of writings produced by professional journalists online and bloggers in South Korea. These examples use advanced analytical methods (hyperlink network analysis and semantic network analysis) to understand the online practices.

Structural changes in the 2003–2009 global hyperlink network

AbstractIn this study, we examined the structure of the international hyperlink network as a global communication system at two different points in time (2003 and 2009). Research was carried out on the web‐based network linking country code top‐level domains (ccTLDs) that represent countries, using hyperlink connectivity by the means of network analysis. The results indicate that the 2009 international hyperlink network was completely interconnected. G7 countries and Spain were at the centre of the network. At the periphery were poorer countries from Africa, Asia, and Latin America. In addition, several regional clusters based on geography, language and culture emerged. A comparison of the 2003 and 2009 results showed that the level of centralization and diversification among semi‐peripheral countries increased. We discuss the results from the perspective of world‐systems theory. We propose methodological procedures to overcome potential bias in international hyperlink data.

Building Association Link Network for Semantic Link on Web Resources

Association Link Network (ALN) aims to establish associated relations among various resources. By extending the hyperlink network World Wide Web to an association-rich network, ALN is able to effectively support Web intelligence activities such as Web browsing, Web knowledge discovery, and publishing, etc. Since existing methods for building semantic link on Web resources cannot effectively and automatically organize loose Web resources, effective Web intelligence activities are still challenging. In this paper, a discovery algorithm of associated resources is first proposed to build original ALN for organizing loose Web resources. Second, three schemas for constructing kernel ALN and connection-rich ALN (C-ALN) are developed gradually to optimize the organizing of Web resources. After that, properties of different types of ALN are discussed, which show that C-ALN has good performances to support Web intelligence activities. Moreover, an evaluation method is presented to verify the correctness of C-ALN for semantic link on documents. Finally, an application using C-ALN to organize Web services is presented, which shows that C-ALN is an effective and efficient tool for building semantic link on the resources of Web services.

Hyperlinked Suicide

The relationship between the Internet and suicide is a topic of growing concern among suicide researchers and the public, though to date few have actually attempted to investigate the accessibility and prominence of suicide-related information online, and there have been no comprehensive studies of site networking structure. To assess the visibility of various types of online information to suicide-risk individuals, and to assess the prominence and accessibility of "pro-suicide," suicide prevention, and support sites by measuring their networking structure. Employing empirically derived search terms, we used the web-based Virtual Observatory for the Study of Online Networks (VOSON) to conduct hyperlink network analysis (HNA) of suicide-related websites. Pro-suicide sites are rare and marginal, while sites dedicated to information about suicide as well as sites dedicated to prevention policy and advocacy are readily accessible. The networking structure of suicide-related Internet content has not been described previously. Our analysis shows that HNA is a useful method for gaining an indepth understanding of network traffic in relation to suicide-content websites. This information will be useful for strengthening the web presence of support and suicide prevention sites, and for monitoring changes over time.

Enhancing Undergraduate Chemistry Education with the Online Dynamic ChemWiki Resource

The ChemWiki is a multi-institutional, collaborative venture to develop free, open-access, dynamic chemistry textbooks. It contains an extensive, hyperlinked network of topic modules to provide a growing, “living” archive of content. Much of the content is still under construction and requires further participation from the chemistry education community to help develop the project to maturity and meet its full potential.

Virtually networked housing movement: Hyperlink network structure of housing social movement organizations

Using such theories as resource mobilization and social capital, this article examines how housing social movement organizations (SMOs) in the USA are connected through hyperlink networks. In doing so, this article employed hyperlink network analysis (HNA) through data collected from 26 national housing SMOs. Results indicate that the more bridging ties an organization has, the more central they are to the network. Results also show that the more incoming hyperlinks that a particular organization has, the more central they are to the network. These results suggest that the utilization of bridging social capital by a housing SMO has the potential to increase the ability to mobilize resources by that organization. Furthermore, increasing the number of bridging hyperlinks available on a website can improve the web presence of the SMO furthering the goals of the overall movement.

A Relational Hyperlink Analysis of an Online Social Movement

In this paper we propose relational hyperlink analysis (RHA) as a distinct approach for empirical social science research into hyperlink networks on the World Wide Web. We demonstrate this approach, which employs the ideas and techniques of social network analysis (in particular, exponential random graph modeling), in a study of the hyperlinking behaviors of Australian asylum advocacy groups. We show that compared with the commonly-used hyperlink counts regression approach, relational hyperlink analysis can lead to fundamentally different conclusions about the social processes underpinning hyperlinking behavior. In particular, in trying to understand why social ties are formed, counts regressions may over-estimate the role of actor attributes in the formation of hyperlinks when endogenous, purely structural network effects are not taken into account. Our analysis involves an innovative joint use of two software programs: VOSON, for the automated retrieval and processing of considerable quantities of hyperlink data, and LPNet, for the statistical modeling of social network data. Together, VOSON and LPNet enable new and unique research into social networks in the online world, and our paper highlights the importance of complementary research tools for social science research into the web.

Hyperlink network analysis of the educational blog

British Journal of Educational TechnologyVolume 42, Issue 2 p. E25-E29 Hyperlink network analysis of the educational blog Eric Zhi Feng Liu, Corresponding Author Eric Zhi Feng Liu National Central University, TaiwanDr. Eric Zhi Feng Liu, Graduate Institute of Learning & Instruction, National Central University, No.300 Jung-da Road, Chung-Li City, Taoyuan, Taiwan 320. Email: totem@cc.ncu.edu.twSearch for more papers by this authorRu Chu Shih, Ru Chu Shih National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, TaiwanSearch for more papers by this authorYuan Lung Tsai, Yuan Lung Tsai Toko University, TaiwanSearch for more papers by this author Eric Zhi Feng Liu, Corresponding Author Eric Zhi Feng Liu National Central University, TaiwanDr. Eric Zhi Feng Liu, Graduate Institute of Learning & Instruction, National Central University, No.300 Jung-da Road, Chung-Li City, Taoyuan, Taiwan 320. Email: totem@cc.ncu.edu.twSearch for more papers by this authorRu Chu Shih, Ru Chu Shih National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, TaiwanSearch for more papers by this authorYuan Lung Tsai, Yuan Lung Tsai Toko University, TaiwanSearch for more papers by this author First published: 02 December 2010 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2010.01150.xCitations: 2 Eric Zhi Feng Liu is an associate professor of Graduate Institute of Learning and Instruction at National Central University, Taiwan. His research addresses Web 2.0 and education, robotics education, and edutainment. Ru Chu Shih is an assistant professor of Department of Modern Languages, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Taiwan. His research addresses Web 2.0 and language learning. Yuan Lung Tsai is a lecturer of General Education Center, Toko University, Taiwan. His research addresses Web 2.0 and education. Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume42, Issue2March 2011Pages E25-E29 RelatedInformation

Social networks and online environments: when science and practice co-evolve

The science of social network analysis has co-evolved with the development of online environments and computer-mediated communication. Unique and precise data available from computer and information systems have allowed network scientists to explore novel social phenomena and develop new methods. Additionally, advances in the structural analysis and visualization of computer-mediated social networks have informed developers and shaped the design of social media tools. This article reviews some examples of research that highlight the ways that social network analysis has evolved with online data. Examples include the international hyperlink network, political blogs and hyperlinks, social media, and multi-user virtual environments. The data available from online environments makes several important contributions to network science, including reliable network flow data, unique forms of relational data across a myriad of contexts, and dynamic data allowing for longitudinal analysis and the animation of social networks.