Preferential Attachment in an Internet-mediated Human Network

TL;DR

This study analyzes the structural dynamics of a popular online social network, revealing that users tend to connect preferentially to highly connected individuals, which impacts the network's growth and structure.

Contribution

The paper introduces a computer program to analyze the Friendster network, demonstrating the presence of preferential attachment in an Internet-mediated human social network.

Findings

Users exhibit preferential attachment to highly connected individuals.

The network follows a scale-free structure.

Insights can improve social networking systems.

Abstract

In the advent of the Internet, web-mediated social networking has become of great influence to Filipinos. Networking sites such as Friendster, YouTube, FaceBook and MySpace are among the most well known sites on the Internet. These sites provide a wide range of services to users from different parts of the world, such as connecting and finding people, as well as, sharing and organizing contents. The popularity and accessibility of these sites enable information to be available. These allow people to analyze and study the characteristics of the population of online social networks. In this study, we developed a computer program to analyze the structural dynamics of a locally popular social networking site: The Friendster Network. Understanding the structural dynamics of a virtual community has many implications, such as finding an improvement on the current networking system, among others. Based on our analysis, we found out that users of the site exhibit preferential attachment to users with high number of friends.