IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v16y2019i22p4322-d284172.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Network Evolution of a Large Online MSM Dating Community: 2005–2018

Author

Listed:
  • Chuchu Liu

    (College of Systems Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China)

  • Xin Lu

    (College of Systems Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China
    School of Software Engineering, Shenzhen Institute of Information Technology, Shenzhen 518172, China
    School of Business, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China)

Abstract

Due to multiple sexual partners and low rates of condom use, the HIV infection rate among MSM (men who have sex with men) is much higher than that of the general population. In order to analyze the characteristics of online activities of MSM, and to understand the evolution of their social networks, in this study we collect a comprehensive dataset, covering the period from January 2005 to June 2018, from the largest Chinese online community, Baidu Tieba. We build an online dating network for MSM-related individuals in the gay-bar community, and analyze the network from static and dynamic aspects. It is found that there is a strong homophily regarding the cities where users reside when developing interactions with others, and that most network measurements tend to be stable at the later stages of evolution, while the size of the largest community fluctuates. This is an indication that the network is formed of rapidly flexible interactions which changes quickly. In comparison with studies on heterosexual networks, we find that the MSM dating network shows differences in many aspects, such as the positive degree-degree correlation and high clustering coefficient, suggesting different thinking and measures should be taken in the policy making of public health management towards the MSM population.

Suggested Citation

  • Chuchu Liu & Xin Lu, 2019. "Network Evolution of a Large Online MSM Dating Community: 2005–2018," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-17, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:22:p:4322-:d:284172
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/22/4322/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/22/4322/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Xin Lu & Linus Bengtsson & Tom Britton & Martin Camitz & Beom Jun Kim & Anna Thorson & Fredrik Liljeros, 2012. "The sensitivity of respondent‐driven sampling," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 175(1), pages 191-216, January.
    2. Michael Bailey & Rachel Cao & Theresa Kuchler & Johannes Stroebel & Arlene Wong, 2018. "Social Connectedness: Measurement, Determinants, and Effects," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 32(3), pages 259-280, Summer.
    3. Ge Huang & Mengsi Cai & Xin Lu, 2019. "Inferring Opinions and Behavioral Characteristics of Gay Men with Large Scale Multilingual Text from Blued," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-21, September.
    4. Duncan J. Watts & Steven H. Strogatz, 1998. "Collective dynamics of ‘small-world’ networks," Nature, Nature, vol. 393(6684), pages 440-442, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fan, Jijian & Friedman, Daniel & Gair, Jonathan & Iyer, Sriya & Redlicki, Bartosz & Velu, Chander, 2021. "A simulation study of how religious fundamentalism takes root," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 465-481.
    2. Theresa Kuchler & Monika Piazzesi & Johannes Stroebel, 2022. "Housing Market Expectations," CESifo Working Paper Series 9665, CESifo.
    3. Huan Wang & Chuang Ma & Han-Shuang Chen & Ying-Cheng Lai & Hai-Feng Zhang, 2022. "Full reconstruction of simplicial complexes from binary contagion and Ising data," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    4. Vinayak, & Raghuvanshi, Adarsh & kshitij, Avinash, 2023. "Signatures of capacity development through research collaborations in artificial intelligence and machine learning," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1).
    5. Supriya Tiwari & Pallavi Basu, 2024. "Quasi-randomization tests for network interference," Papers 2403.16673, arXiv.org.
    6. Anzhi Sheng & Qi Su & Aming Li & Long Wang & Joshua B. Plotkin, 2023. "Constructing temporal networks with bursty activity patterns," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    7. Kuchler, Theresa & Russel, Dominic & Stroebel, Johannes, 2022. "JUE Insight: The geographic spread of COVID-19 correlates with the structure of social networks as measured by Facebook," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    8. Samrachana Adhikari & Beau Dabbs, 2018. "Social Network Analysis in R: A Software Review," Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, , vol. 43(2), pages 225-253, April.
    9. Wang, Xiaojie & Slamu, Wushour & Guo, Wenqiang & Wang, Sixiu & Ren, Yan, 2022. "A novel semi local measure of identifying influential nodes in complex networks," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    10. Vesa Pursiainen, 2022. "Cultural Biases in Equity Analysis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 77(1), pages 163-211, February.
    11. Lin, Dan & Wu, Jiajing & Xuan, Qi & Tse, Chi K., 2022. "Ethereum transaction tracking: Inferring evolution of transaction networks via link prediction," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 600(C).
    12. Christian Bittner & Falko Fecht & Melissa Pala & Farzad Saidi, 2023. "Information Transmission between Banks and the Market for Corporate Control," ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series 250, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
    13. Ferreira, D.S.R. & Ribeiro, J. & Oliveira, P.S.L. & Pimenta, A.R. & Freitas, R.P. & Dutra, R.S. & Papa, A.R.R. & Mendes, J.F.F., 2022. "Spatiotemporal analysis of earthquake occurrence in synthetic and worldwide data," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 165(P2).
    14. Caraiani, Petre, 2023. "Oil news shocks, inflation expectations and social connectedness," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(PB).
    15. Mario V. Tomasello & Mauro Napoletano & Antonios Garas & Frank Schweitzer, 2017. "The rise and fall of R&D networks," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 26(4), pages 617-646.
    16. Qinghu Liao & Wenwen Dong & Boxin Zhao, 2023. "A New Strategy to Solve “the Tragedy of the Commons” in Sustainable Grassland Ecological Compensation: Experience from Inner Mongolia, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-24, June.
    17. Richard Bluhm & Maxim Pinkovskiy, 2021. "The spread of COVID-19 and the BCG vaccine: A natural experiment in reunified Germany," The Econometrics Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 24(3), pages 353-376.
    18. Oliver Rehbein & Simon Rother, 2020. "The Role of Social Networks in Bank Lending," ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series 033, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
    19. Xinyu Huang & Dongming Chen & Dongqi Wang & Tao Ren, 2020. "MINE: Identifying Top- k Vital Nodes in Complex Networks via Maximum Influential Neighbors Expansion," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-25, August.
    20. Xueguo Xu & Chen Xu & Wenxin Zhang, 2022. "Research on the Destruction Resistance of Giant Urban Rail Transit Network from the Perspective of Vulnerability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-26, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:22:p:4322-:d:284172. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.