Bursty egocentric network evolution in Skype

TL;DR

This paper investigates how egocentric contact networks in Skype evolve through bursty, clustered events of contact addition and removal, revealing patterns linked to user activity and service adoption.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of bursty contact dynamics in Skype, classifies user behaviors, and links contact activity to user engagement and marketing opportunities.

Findings

Egocentric networks evolve in bursty clusters separated by inactivity.

Burst peaks occur shortly after user account creation.

Contact bursts correlate with increased user activity and service adoption.

Abstract

In this study we analyze the dynamics of the contact list evolution of millions of users of the Skype communication network. We find that egocentric networks evolve heterogeneously in time as events of edge additions and deletions of individuals are grouped in long bursty clusters, which are separated by long inactive periods. We classify users by their link creation dynamics and show that bursty peaks of contact additions are likely to appear shortly after user account creation. We also study possible relations between bursty contact addition activity and other user-initiated actions like free and paid service adoption events. We show that bursts of contact additions are associated with increases in activity and adoption - an observation that can inform the design of targeted marketing tactics.