Shifting Behaviour of Users: Towards Understanding the Fundamental Law of Social Networks

TL;DR

This paper introduces a game theoretic model to analyze how users shift between social networking sites when new platforms emerge, considering factors like stabilization time and features, supported by survey data.

Contribution

It presents a novel model for understanding user transition dynamics in social networks, incorporating key factors influencing SNS success and competition.

Findings

Longer stabilization times favor existing SNSs like Facebook.

Features of new SNSs significantly impact user migration.

Model validated with empirical survey data.

Abstract

Social Networking Sites (SNSs) are powerful marketing and communication tools. There are hundreds of SNSs that have entered and exited the market over time. The coexistence of multiple SNSs is a rarely observed phenomenon. Most coexisting SNSs either serve different purposes for its users or have cultural differences among them. The introduction of a new SNS with a better set of features can lead to the demise of an existing SNS, as observed in the transition from Orkut to Facebook. The paper proposes a model for analyzing the transition of users from one SNS to another, when a new SNS is introduced in the system. The game theoretic model proposed considers two major factors in determining the success of a new SNS. The first being time that an old SNS gets to stabilise. We study whether the time that a SNS like Facebook received to monopolize its reach had a distinguishable effect. The second factor is the set of features showcased by the new SNS. The results of the model are also experimentally verified with data collected by means of a survey.