Social Influence in the Concurrent Diffusion of Information and Behaviors in Online Social Networks

TL;DR

This study investigates how information and behaviors spread concurrently in online social networks, revealing different influence mechanisms for each and highlighting the importance of bilateral influence in behavioral diffusion.

Contribution

It introduces an integrated analysis of information and behavior diffusion, demonstrating distinct influence patterns and emphasizing the role of bilateral social influence in behaviors.

Findings

Unilateral influence affects information spread

Bilateral influence predicts behavioral diffusion

Information and behaviors follow different diffusion patterns

Abstract

The emergence of online social networks has greatly facilitated the diffusion of information and behaviors. While the two diffusion processes are often intertwined, "talking the talk" does not necessarily mean "walking the talk"--those who share information about an action may not actually participate in it. We do not know if the diffusion of information and behaviors are similar, or if social influence plays an equally important role in these processes. Integrating text mining, social network analyses, and survival analysis, this research examines the concurrent spread of information and behaviors related to the Ice Bucket Challenge on Twitter. We show that the two processes follow different patterns. Unilateral social influence contributes to the diffusion of information, but not to the diffusion of behaviors; bilateral influence conveyed via the communication process is a significant and positive predictor of the diffusion of behaviors, but not of information. These results have implications for theories of social influence, social networks, and contagion.