On the Topology of the Facebook Page Network

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the Facebook Page Network, demonstrating it exhibits scale-free and power law properties, which are crucial for understanding social media audience dynamics and network structure.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of the Facebook Page Network's topology, revealing its scale-free nature and implications for social media analysis.

Findings

Both the Facebook Page Network and BPO-BPO subnetwork show power law degree distributions.

The network exhibits scale-free properties consistent with preferential attachment models.

Social media analysts should consider non-linear and logarithmic properties of audiences.

Abstract

The Facebook Page Network (FPN) is a platform for Businesses, Public Figures and Organizations (BPOs) to connect with individuals and other BPOs in the digital space. For over a decade scale-free networks have most appropriately described a variety of seemingly disparate physical, biological and social real-world systems unified by similar network properties such as scale-invariance, growth via a preferential attachment mechanism, and a power law degree distribution P(k) = ck^-{\lambda} where typically 2<{\lambda}<3. In this paper we show that both the Facebook Page Network and its BPO-BPO subnetwork suggest power law and scale-free characteristics. We argue that social media analysts must consider the logarithmic and non-linear properties of social media audiences of scale.