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How exposure to different opinions impacts the life cycle of social media

Author

Listed:
  • Armin A. Rad

    (Virginia Tech)

  • Mohammad S. Jalali

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

  • Hazhir Rahmandad

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Abstract

As a lot of communication and media consumption moves online, people may be exposed to a wider population and more diverse opinions. However, individuals may act differently when faced with opinions far removed from their own. Moreover, changes in the frequency of visits, posting, and other forms of expression could lead to narrowing of the opinions that each person observes, as well as changes in the customer base for online platforms. Despite increasing research on the rise and fall of online social media outlets, user activity in response to exposure to others’ opinions has received little attention. In this study, we first introduce a method that maps opinions of individuals and their generated content on a multi-dimensional space by factorizing an individual–object interaction (e.g., user-news rating) matrix. Using data on 6151 users interacting with 287,327 pieces of content over 21 months on a social media platform we estimate changes in individuals’ activities in response to interaction with content expressing a variety of opinions. We find that individuals increase their online activities when interacting with content close to their own opinions, and interacting with extreme opinions may decrease their activities. Finally, developing an agent-based simulation model, we study the effect of the estimated mechanisms on the future success of a simulated platform.

Suggested Citation

  • Armin A. Rad & Mohammad S. Jalali & Hazhir Rahmandad, 2018. "How exposure to different opinions impacts the life cycle of social media," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 268(1), pages 63-91, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:annopr:v:268:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s10479-017-2554-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s10479-017-2554-8
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Darren Iwamoto & Hans Chun, 2020. "The Emotional Impact of Social Media in Higher Education," International Journal of Higher Education, Sciedu Press, vol. 9(2), pages 239-239, April.
    2. Taiga Saito & Shivam Gupta, 2022. "Big Data Applications with Theoretical Models and Social Media in Financial Management," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-1205, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    3. Taiga Saito & Shivam Gupta, 2022. "Big data applications with theoretical models and social media in financial management," CARF F-Series CARF-F-550, Center for Advanced Research in Finance, Faculty of Economics, The University of Tokyo.
    4. Sheen S. Levine & Michael J. Prietula & Ann Majchrzak, 2022. "Advice in Crisis: Principles of Organizational and Entrepreneurial Resilience," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 11(4), pages 145-168, December.
    5. Xiao Liao & Guangyu Ye & Juan Yu & Yunjiang Xi, 2021. "Identifying lead users in online user innovation communities based on supernetwork," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 300(2), pages 515-543, May.
    6. Mihalis Giannakis & Rameshwar Dubey & Shishi Yan & Konstantina Spanaki & Thanos Papadopoulos, 2022. "Social media and sensemaking patterns in new product development: demystifying the customer sentiment," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 308(1), pages 145-175, January.

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