Synchronization of online social rhythms via avatar communications

Abstract

In this study, we consider users' online communication rhythms (online social rhythms) as coupled oscillators in a complex social network. Users' rhythms may be entrained onto those of their friends, and macro-scale pattern of such rhythms can emerge. We investigated the entrainment in online social rhythms and long-range correlations of the rhythms using an avatar communication dataset. We indicated entrainment in online social rhythms to emerge if the strength of a new connection reaches a threshold. This entrainment spread via densely-connected clusters. Consequently, long-range correlations of online social rhythms extended to about 36\% of the network, although offline social life naturally restricts online social rhythms. This research supports an understanding of human social dynamics in terms of systems of coupled oscillators.

Pacemaker effects on online social rhythms on a social network

“…This is available for iOS and Android devices. A previous study [2] indicated the entrainment of online social rhythms among Pigg Party players.…”

“…We builted online social networks to study the intervention effects on participants' neighbors for each week, based on a previous study [2]. Therefore, we acquired five networks for the weeks of intervention periods 6 .…”

“…To construct these networks, we used the logs of users visiting other users' private rooms. As in previous research [2,25,30,31], we established a link between a visitor and the owner of a room because visitors are often friends with the owner [32]. The time spent (in seconds) over a week was used to denote the weights of the links (w).…”

“…Social physics, a study that uses physical methods to explain social phenomena [1], has been applied to understand the dynamics of human online social rhythms [2]. These rhythms are influenced by social cues [3] and can be modeled as coupled oscillators in complex social networks [2,4,5]. The synchronization of coupled oscillators occurs when connections exceed a certain threshold, leading to global patterns [6][7][8][9].…”

“…Online social rhythms, which reflect everyday lifestyle rhythms, are often driven by online communication and influenced by friends' rhythms. One study [2] showed that the entrainment of people's online social rhythms emerges if their closeness reaches a threshold. This entrainment spreads via densely connected clusters; that is, having many shared friends facilitates the entrainment of online social rhythms.…”