On the information diffusion between web-based social networks

Abstract

The topic of Information diffusion has been in the centre of sociology interest for many years. Even before the rise of Online Social Networks (OSNs), social ties and the way the information flows have been studied in traditional real life social networks. In this paper, we propose the concept of multilayer information flow, by considering every On-line Social Network (OSN) as a separate layer and the information as links connecting these layers. Under such formalization, information is spread from a source layer, while it is diffused in multiple other layers. In order to validate our proposal, experimentations are focused on Reddit and its content, by observing the diffusion of its posts and related content in ImgUr and YouTube. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015.