Maximising the Influence of Temporary Participants in Opinion Formation

TL;DR

This paper introduces a modified DeGroot opinion formation model that incorporates external agents with limited interaction time, providing insights into how to maximize their influence in social networks.

Contribution

It proposes a new variant of the DeGroot model to analyze and simulate the impact of temporary external agents on opinion formation.

Findings

External agents can significantly influence opinions within limited interaction periods.

Optimal timing and interaction duration are crucial for maximizing influence.

Simulation results demonstrate effective strategies for external influence in social networks.

Abstract

DeGroot-style opinion formation presumes a continuous interaction among agents of a social network. Hence, it cannot handle agents external to the social network that interact only temporarily with the permanent ones. Many real-world organisations and individuals fall into such a category. For instance, a company tries to persuade as many as possible to buy its products and, due to various constraints, can only exert its influence for a limited amount of time. We propose a variant of the DeGroot model that allows an external agent to interact with the permanent ones for a preset period of time. We obtain several insights on maximising an external agent's influence in opinion formation by analysing and simulating the variant.