Dynamics of deceptive interactions in social networks

TL;DR

This paper models how deception influences social network dynamics, revealing that lies foster tightly-knit communities and central agents linking different opinions, impacting social structure and behavior.

Contribution

It introduces a novel opinion formation model incorporating deception, capturing its effects on social network topology and agent centrality.

Findings

Lies lead to formation of small, tightly linked communities.

Deceptive agents act as bridges between different opinion groups.

Varying societal tolerance for lies alters network structure and social dynamics.

Abstract

In this paper we examine the role of lies in human social relations by implementing some salient characteristics of deceptive interactions into an opinion formation model, so as to describe the dynamical behaviour of a social network more realistically. In this model we take into account such basic properties of social networks as the dynamics of the intensity of interactions, the influence of public opinion, and the fact that in every human interaction it might be convenient to deceive or withhold information depending on the instantaneous situation of each individual in the network. We find that lies shape the topology of social networks, especially the formation of tightly linked, small communities with loose connections between them. We also find that agents with a larger proportion of deceptive interactions are the ones that connect communities of different opinion, and in this sense they have substantial centrality in the network. We then discuss the consequences of these results for the social behaviour of humans and predict the changes that could arise due to a varying tolerance for lies in society.