2018 IEEE/ACM International Conference on Advances in Social Networks Analysis and Mining (ASONAM)
Download PDF

Abstract

Social interactions can be both positive and negative, and at various spatial and temporal scales. Negative interactions such as conflicts are often influenced by political, economic and social pre-conditions. The signatures of conflicts can be mapped and studied in the form of complex social networks. Using publicly available large digital databases of media records, we construct networks of actors involved in conflicts by aggregating the events over time. We then study the spatio-temporal dynamics and network topology of conflicts, which can provide important insights on the engaging individuals, groups, establishments and sometimes nations, pointing at their long range effect over space and time. Network analyses of the empirical data reveal certain statistical regularities, which can be reproduced using agent based models. The fat tails of actor mentions and network degree distributions indicate dominant roles of the influential actors and groups, which over time, form a part of a giant connected component. Targeted removal of actors may help preventing unruly events of conflicts. Inspired by the empirical findings, we also propose a model for interacting actors that can reproduce the most important features of our datasets.
Like what you’re reading?
Already a member?Sign In
Member Price
$11
Non-Member Price
$21
Add to CartSign In
Get this article FREE with a new membership!

Related Articles