Shaping opinions in a social network

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new opinion dynamics model based on social interactions within acquaintances' groups, analyzing how opinions evolve and cluster over time.

Contribution

It presents a novel model of opinion formation considering group interactions and explores its behavior and clustering properties.

Findings

Number of opinion clusters varies with parameters

Time to form clusters depends on interaction dynamics

Model exhibits complex, non-trivial behavior

Abstract

We hereby propose a model of opinion dynamics where individuals update their beliefs because of interactions in acquaintances' group. The model exhibit a non trivial behavior that we discuss as a function of the main involved parameters. Results are reported on the average number of opinion clusters and the time needed to form such clusters.