# Global Patterns of Synchronization in Human Communications

## TL;DR

This study analyzes geolocated Twitter data to uncover global and urban-scale patterns of human synchronization, revealing how social interactions and communication foster collective behaviors and emergent global rhythms.

## Contribution

It introduces a dynamical model explaining the emergence of global synchrony driven by increasing worldwide communication and social interactions.

## Key findings

- Urban areas exhibit heartbeat-like cycles linked to social routines.
- Global synchronization peaks involve cross-continental exchange of ideas.
- Social interactions induce interdependence and complexity in collective behavior.

## Abstract

Social media are transforming global communication and coordination. The data derived from social media can reveal patterns of human behavior at all levels and scales of society. Using geolocated Twitter data, we have quantified collective behaviors across multiple scales, ranging from the commutes of individuals, to the daily pulse of 50 major urban areas and global patterns of human coordination. Human activity and mobility patterns manifest the synchrony required for contingency of actions between individuals. Urban areas show regular cycles of contraction and expansion that resembles heartbeats linked primarily to social rather than natural cycles. Business hours and circadian rhythms influence daily cycles of work, recreation, and sleep. Different urban areas have characteristic signatures of daily collective activities. The differences are consistent with a new emergent global synchrony that couples behavior in distant regions across the world. A globally synchronized peak that includes exchange of ideas and information across Europe, Africa, Asia and Australasia. We propose a dynamical model to explain the emergence of global synchrony in the context of increasing global communication and reproduce the observed behavior. The collective patterns we observe show how social interactions lead to interdependence of behavior manifest in the synchronization of communication. The creation and maintenance of temporally sensitive social relationships results in the emergence of complexity of the larger scale behavior of the social system.