Dynamics of Public Opinion: Diverse Media and Audiences’ Choices

Abstract

Studies on the fundamental role of diverse media in the evolution of public opinion can protect us from the spreading of brainwashing, extremism, and terrorism. Many fear the information cocoon may result in polarization of the public opinion. Hence, in this work, we investigate how audiences' choices among diverse media might influence public opinion. Specifically, we aim to figure out how peoples' horizons (i.e., range of available media) and quantity, as well as the distribution of media, may shape the space of public opinion. We propose a novel model of opinion dynamics that considers di erent influences and horizons for every individual, and we carry out simulations using a real-world social network. Numerical simulations show that diversity in media can provide more choices to the people, although individuals only choose media within the bounds of their horizons, extreme opinions are more diluted, and no opinion polarizations emerge. Furthermore, we find that the distribution of media's opinions can e ectively influence the space for public opinion, but when the number of media grows to a certain level, its e ect will reach a limitation. Finally, we show that the e ect of campaigns for consciousness or education can be improved by constructing the opinion of media, which can provide a basis for the policy maker in the new media age.

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“…Мнения в этой модели характеризуются степенью сходства, агенты взаимодействуют друг с другом, только если их мнения достаточно сходны. Достижение консенсуса в моделях второго класса возможно, если мнения имеют значительную степень сходства, в ином случае наблюдается поляризация мнений за счет влияния агентов с радикальными исходными взглядами (Chen, Lan, 2021).…”

“…В последние десятилетие лидирующее место среди СМИ заняли интернетплатформы, такие как YouTube, Twitter, TikTok, нацеленные на различные возрастные и социальные группы. С их помощью каждый человек получает возможность публиковать свои мнения и суждения, что значительно изменяет способы распространения норм и ценностей (Chen, Lan, 2021). Влияние инфлюэнсеров в социальных сетях может быть потенциально негативным, провоцировать недовольство действующей властью с целью последующей дестабилизации политической обстановки.…”

Research on the propagation and governance of public opinion information under the joint action of internal and external factors

“…Considering the multi-channel of public opinion propagation, Zhang et al (2018) proposed a cross-network propagation model of public opinion in double-layer OSN. In addition to government intervention (Wang et al, 2020), the media and social platforms also play a significant role in the propagation process of public opinion (Chen and Lan, 2021), especially news reports with opinions in the media, and personalized recommendations on social platforms may even affect the evolution of public opinion in the whole society.…”

“…One is the positive reinforcement effect, which means that the regulators take a positive attitude to the propagation of public opinion, constantly pushing public opinion to netizens and promoting the diffusion of public opinion (Meneghello et al, 2020). The other is the negative reinforcement effect, which means that they hold a negative attitude towards the propagation of public opinion and suppress the diffusion of public opinion through the introduction of relevant measures or policies (Chen and Lan, 2021). Based on the constraints of relevant systems, social reinforcement effects can significantly affect the propagation process of public opinion through influencing netizens' public opinion spreading behavior, and the above conclusions have also been confirmed by the existing studies (Wang et al, 2019;Xu and Zhang, 2020).…”

Mainstream Value Information Push Strategy on Chinese Aggregation News Platform: Evolution, Modelling and Analysis

“…Zhang J Q [19] analyzed the information dilemma formed in the actual operation of algorithmic news and analyzed how to make better use of algorithmic recommendation systems to construct a health information environment from the perspective of the human-computer relationship. Chen Z et al [20] proposed a novel model of opinion dynamics that considers different influences and horizons for every individual, and the results show that the effect of campaigns for consciousness or education can be improved by constructing the opinion of media, which can provide a basis for policymakers in the new media age. Huang H X et al [21] used game logic and game theory deduction to analyze the game process of commercial media and users.…”