the role of reciprocation in the formation of social networks, with an application to blogging

8/6/2019 The role of reciprocation in the formation of social networks, with an application to blogging

1/25

The role of reciprocation in the formation of social

networksWith an application to blogging

Alexia Gaudeul and Caterina Giannetti

Graduate School Human Behaviour in Social and Economic Change (GSBC)Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany

North American Summer Meeting of the Econometric Society 2011St Louis, USA


2/25

Outline

1

OverviewMain argumentResearch themes

2 BloggingDifferent strands in research

Modelling the activity ofbloggersActivity, Readership andReciprocation

3 Empirical AnalysisThe sampleThe estimation modelThe variablesReciprocation by others

Reciprocation by oneselfRobustnessInterpretation

4 Conclusion


3/25

Overview Blogging Empirical Analysis Conclusion References

Main argument

Overview - Main argument

1 Analysis of the dynamics of network formation among bloggers

2 Panel of 1000+ bloggers, followed over more than a year3 Two main factors in audience growth:

Content produced, if possible interesting

Reciprocation (Reading others so they read you)4 Which is more important reveals the nature of the activity being led

within a network

Media orSocial networking

The role of reciprocation in the formation of social networks 3/ 23 Alexia Gaudeul and Caterina Giannetti


4/25


Research themes

Overview - Research themes

Online social networking gives unprecedented and cheap access tomicro data on how people go about Winning Friends and InfluencingPeople (Carnegie, 1936).

Three main themes:

1 Friendship (Aristotle, ca. 350 B.C.E.; De Montaigne, 1588)2 Competition for attention (Simon, 1971; Falkinger, 2007)3 Norm of reciprocity (Gouldner, 1960)

Insight

The norm of reciprocity means friendships are usually reciprocated, so thatpaying attention to and making friends with others helps gain attention foroneself



5/25

O C


6/25


Modelling the activity of bloggers

Blogging - Modelling the activity of bloggers

1 Information gathering and transmission (Galeotti and Goyal, 2010)

2 Content production in exchange for attention (Gaudeul, Mathieu, andPeroni, 2011; Rui and Whinston, 2010)

3 Building social capital (Glaeser, Laibson, and Sacerdote, 2002)

Our approach

We adapt Glaeser et al. to integrate reciprocation into the dynamics ofaudience building in blogging networks


O i Bl i E i i l A l i C l i R f


7/25


Activity, Readership and Reciprocation

Blogging - Activity, Readership and Reciprocation

Gain readersPost contentX R(X)


O i Bl i E i i l A l i C l i R f


8/25




New FriendsGain readersPost contentX R(X) R(X)

Reciprocation by oneself




9/25




Activity

Look for friends New Readers

New FriendsGain readersPost content

Add friends

X

F(Y)

R(X)

F(Y)

R(X)

Reciprocation by others


Y




10/25




Readers = Friends Added (Y) + Readers Gained (X)

Friends = Friends Added (Y) + Readers Gained (X)

so

Readers = Friends + (1

) Readers Gained (X)Friends = Readers + (1 ) Friends Added (Y)

Estimation

We monitor readership over time, along with activity w.r.t. adding friendsand contributing content, with data collected from LiveJournal, a majorblog hosting site (Raynes-Goldie, 2004; Raynes-Goldie and Fono, 2006;Marwick, 2008).

The role of reciprocation in the formation of social networks 10 / 23 Alexia Gaudeul and Caterina Giannetti



11/25


The sample

Empirical Analysis - The sample

NATIONALITYBLOG AGE Russian English Total

Young Readers 152 46Friends 154 59

N (43) (24) (137)

Mature Readers 373 92Friends 265 84

N (382) (352) (1067)

Old Readers 1741 175Friends 383 111

N (9) (97) (143)

Total N (434) (473) (1347)




12/25


The sample

Empirical Analysis - The sample

1 Blogs accumulate readers and friends over time

2 Blogs reciprocate less in the aggregate over time

3 The sample is balanced in terms of languages

4 Russian blogs are younger and bigger.

5 English blogs have more balanced readers/friends lists




13/25

gg g p y

The estimation model

Empirical Analysis - The estimation model

We had the following equation:

Readerst = Friendst + (1 ) Readers Gainedt (X)

Readers Gainedt (X) will be a function of activity other than seeking out

and adding friendsAt

, and of ones stock of ReadersRt

1.Readers Gainedt (X) = At Readerst1

Rearranging, one obtains:

Readerst = Friendst + (1 )At + (1 (1 ))Readerst1

Similarly:Friendst = Readerst + (1 )Bt + (1 (1 ))Friendst1


The role of reciprocation in the formation of social networks


14/25


We had the following equation:

Readerst = Friendst + (1 ) Readers Gainedt (X)

Readers Gainedt (X) will be a function of activity other than seeking outand adding friends At, and of ones stock of Readers Rt1.

Readers Gainedt (X) = At Readerst1

Rearranging, one obtains:

Readerst = Friendst + (1 )At + (1 (1 ))Readerst1

Similarly:

Friendst = Readerst + (1 )Bt + (1 (1 ))Friendst1

2011-

06-

11

The role of reciprocation in the formation of social networks

Empirical Analysis

The estimation model


GMM allows us to control for endogeneity arising from: i) individualunobserved heterogeneity (e.g. a bloggers ability in writing interestingposts) ii) idiosyncratic shock that leads to an increase in both in thenumbers of readers and in the numbers of friends.

Moreover, it accounts for idiosyncratic component of the error termwhich may be correlated with both the number of friends and the activityof the blogger (e.g. you are happy because your brother married)

In order to do that we rely on internal instruments. Specifically, the lags

of regressors as well as characteristics of the blog (i.e. functionality)



15/25

The variables

Empirical Analysis - The variables

Stock variables are:

Readers (Blogs reading the user) and Friends (Blogs read by the user)

Activity variables are:

1

Communities joined and left2 Entries written by the user

3 Comments posted by the user

4 Extroversion: Comments posted by the user / Comments received

5

Readers Engagement: Comments received / Entries6 Number of weeks since last entry made

We will also consider characteristics of the blog (Age, Language, Range offunctionalities)




16/25

Reciprocation by others

Empirical Analysis - Reciprocation by others

VARIABLES Pooled OLS FE SYS GMML.Readers 1.004*** 0.986*** 0.999***log Friends 17.780** 16.000** 10.400***Functionality 0.026 0.469*** 9.784***Age blog -0.003*** 0.019*** 0.010*Community joined 0.238** 0.207* 0.680*Community left 0.033 0.039 0.414***Entries 0.009** 0.010* -0.015Posted 0.011*** 0.022*** 0.064***Extroversion -0.014*** -0.015*** -0.017

Engagement 0.011 0.012 0.030*Inactive 0.004 -0.018*** -0.388Constant -0.046 -3.038** -26.570***Observations 75,432 75,432 75,432Number of user 1,347 1,347 1,347




17/25


Empirical Analysis - Reciprocation by oneself

VARIABLES Pooled OLS FE SYS GMML.Friends 1.000*** 0.932*** 0.952***log Readers 54.740*** 48.870*** 15.520***Functionality 0.063** 0.756*** 0.770**Age blog -0.0005 0.028** 0.010**Community joined 0.595* 0.469* 0.352**Community left 0.058 0.067 -0.074Entries 0.004 0.005 -0.0004Posted 0.003 0.008** 0.014***Extroversion -0.011* -0.013* -0.014***

Engagement 0.005 0.006 -0.002Inactive -0.005 -0.028*** -0.107***Constant -0.100 1.307 0.545Observations 75,432 75,432 75,432Number of user 1,347 1,347 1,347




18/25

Robustness

Empirical Analysis - Robustness

We check the robustness of our results

1 To weak identification (i.e. system-GMM, Bobba and Coviello, 2007)and instruments proliferation (i.e. Hansen J-statistics, Roodman,2009)

2 To structural specification (i.e. test the validity of subset ofinstruments, using difference in Hansen J-statistics)

3 By considering different sub-groups of blogs (i.e. small vs. large blogsand English vs. Russian-speaking)




19/25

Interpretation

Empirical Analysis - Interpretation

1 Depreciation in readership is limited (network effects)

2 Reciprocation is a significant factor, but is quite low (10%)

3 Some aspects of activity contributes to audience growth

4 Other aspects such as joining communities indicate willingness to add

friends

5 There are little differences between Russian and English blogs, despitesociological differences between the two (type of uses and of users)

6 Bigger blogs reciprocate readership more willingly.


Empirical Analysis - InterpretationThe role of reciprocation in the formation of social networks


20/25

1 Depreciation in readership is limited (network effects)

2 Reciprocation is a significant factor, but is quite low (10%)

3 Some aspects of activity contributes to audience growth

4 Other aspects such as joining communities indicate willingness to addfriends

5 There are little differences between Russian and English blogs, despitesociological differences between the two (type of uses and of users)

6 Bigger blogs reciprocate readership more willingly.

2011-

06-

11 Empirical Analysis

Interpretation

Empirical Analysis - Interpretation

Language is used as a proxy for (blogging) culture and/or type of blogs.Posting comments on other blogs increases audience, but writing entriesdoes not do so, unless big blog.Writing entries that attract comments does increase readership though.

Inactivity does not lose readers (unless Russian), and (of course?) meansno friends are added.



21/25

Conclusion

1 Empirics: Bloggers activity on LiveJournal follow consistentpatterns. Experience, audience size or location have little effect.

2 Methodology: Data on activity in social networks should not beseparated from data on the structure of the social network itself.

3 Contribution: Better understanding of the process of social networkformation + A framework for a general understanding of social mediaand online social networking.

Questions? Comments? Mail us at [email protected]




22/25

References I

Aristotle. ca. 350 B.C.E. The Nicomachean Ethics. Oxford University Press. (1908translation by W. D. Ross).

Bobba, Matteo and Decio Coviello. 2007. Weak instruments and weak identification, inestimating the effects of education, on democracy. Economics Letters96 (3):301306.

Carnegie, Dale. 1936. How To Win Friends And Influence People. Simon & Schuster.

de Montaigne, Michel E. 1588. Essays, chap. XXVII - Of Friendship. Project Gutenberg.URL http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3600. (1877 translation by C. Cotton).

Falkinger, Josef. 2007. Attention economies. Journal of Economic Theory133 (1):266294.

Galeotti, Andrea and Sanjeev Goyal. 2010. The law of the few. American EconomicReview 100 (4):14681492.

Gaudeul, Alexia, Laurence Mathieu, and Chiara Peroni. 2011. Blogs and the Economicsof Reciprocal Attention. In Internet Econometrics, edited by Anne Dubrocard.Palgrave MacMillan. Forthcoming.


http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3600http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3600http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3600


23/25

References II

Glaeser, Edward L., David Laibson, and Bruce Sacerdote. 2002. An economic approachto social capital. The Economic Journal 112 (483):437458.

Gouldner, Alvin W. 1960. The norm of reciprocity: A preliminary statement.American Sociological Review 25 (2):161178.

Huang, Chun-Yao, Yong-Zheng Shen, Hong-Xiang Lin, and Shin-Shin Chang. 2007.

Bloggers Motivations and Behaviors: A Model. Journal of Advertising Research47 (4):472484.

Kumar, Ravi, Jasmine Novak, and Andrew Tomkins. 2010. Structure and evolution ofonline social networks. In Link Mining: Models, Algorithms, and Applications, editedby Philip S. S. Yu, Jiawei Han, and Christos Faloutsos. Springer: New York, 337357.

Lenhart, Amanda and Susannah Fox. 2006. Bloggers: A portrait of the Internets newstorytellers. URL http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2006/Bloggers.aspx.Accessed October 18, 2010.

Marwick, Alice. 2008. LiveJournal users: Passionate, prolific and private. URLhttp://www.livejournalinc.com/LJ_Research_Report.pdf. Accessed January18, 2010.


http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2006/Bloggers.aspxhttp://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2006/Bloggers.aspxhttp://www.livejournalinc.com/LJ_Research_Report.pdfhttp://www.livejournalinc.com/LJ_Research_Report.pdfhttp://www.livejournalinc.com/LJ_Research_Report.pdfhttp://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2006/Bloggers.aspx


24/25

References III

Raynes-Goldie, Kate. 2004. Pulling sense out of todays informational chaos:LiveJournal as a site of knowledge creation and sharing. First Monday 9 (12). URLhttp://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_12/raynes/index.html.

Raynes-Goldie, Kate and David Fono. 2006. Hyperfriends and beyond: Friendship andsocial norms on LiveJournal. In Internet Research Annual Volume 4: SelectedPapers from the Association of Internet Researchers Conference, edited byM. Consalvo and C. Haythornthwaite. Peter Lang: New York, USA.

Roodman, David. 2009. A note on the theme of too many instruments. OxfordBulletin of Economics and Statistics 71 (1):135158.

Rui, Huaxia and Andrew Whinston. 2010. Social media as an innovation - the case ofTwitter. University of Texas at Austin.

Shirky, Clay. 2003. Power laws, weblogs, and inequality. URLhttp://shirky.com/writings/powerlaw_weblog.html. Accessed January 18,2010.


http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_12/raynes/index.htmlhttp://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_12/raynes/index.htmlhttp://shirky.com/writings/powerlaw_weblog.htmlhttp://shirky.com/writings/powerlaw_weblog.htmlhttp://shirky.com/writings/powerlaw_weblog.htmlhttp://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_12/raynes/index.html


25/25

References IV

Simon, Herbert A. 1971. Designing Organizations for an Information-Rich World. InComputers, Communication, and the Public Interest, edited by Martin Greenberger.The Johns Hopkins Press: Baltimore, MD.

Technorati. 2009. State of the Blogosphere 2009. URLhttp://technorati.com/blogging/feature/state-of-the-blogosphere-2009.Accessed October 18, 2010.

Wei, Lu. 2009. Filter blogs vs. personal journals: Understanding the knowledgeproduction gap on the Internet. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication14 (3):532558.

http://technorati.com/blogging/feature/state-of-the-blogosphere-2009http://technorati.com/blogging/feature/state-of-the-blogosphere-2009

the role of reciprocation in the formation of social networks, with an application to blogging

Documents