Online Social Networks

Online Social Networks

Released September 2015
Publisher(s): Elsevier
ISBN: 9780128030424

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Book description

Online Social Networks: Human Cognitive Constraints in Facebook and Twitter provides new insights into the structural properties of personal online social networks and the mechanisms underpinning human online social behavior.

As the availability of digital communication data generated by social media is revolutionizing the field of social networks analysis, the text discusses the use of large- scale datasets to study the structural properties of online ego networks, to compare them with the properties of general human social networks, and to highlight additional properties.

Users will find the data collected and conclusions drawn useful during design or research service initiatives that involve online and mobile social network environments.



  • Provides an analysis of the structural properties of ego networks in online social networks
  • Presents quantitative evidence of the Dunbar’s number in online environments
  • Discusses original structural and dynamic properties of human social network through OSN analysis

Table of contents

  1. Cover image
  2. Title page
  3. Table of Contents
  4. Copyright
  5. Preface
  6. Acknowledgements
  7. Chapter 1: Introduction
    1. Abstract
    2. 1.1 Offline and Online Social Networks
    3. 1.2 OSNs in the Cyber-Physical Convergence Scenario
    4. 1.3 Ego Networks Analysis and the Social Brain Hypothesis
    5. 1.4 Aim of the Book
    6. 1.5 Book Structure
  8. Chapter 2: Human Social Networks
    1. Abstract
    2. 2.1 Introduction
    3. 2.2 Macroscopic Properties of Unweighted Social Networks
    4. 2.3 From Social Graphs to Interaction Graphs
    5. 2.4 Microscopic Properties of Social Networks
    6. 2.5 Bridging Microscopic and Macroscopic Properties of Social Networks
    7. 2.6 Chapter Summary and Discussion
  9. Chapter 3: Tie Strength and Ego Network Structure in Facebook
    1. Abstract
    2. 3.1 Introduction
    3. 3.2 Modelling Tie Strength in Facebook
    4. 3.3 The Structure of Ego Networks in Facebook
    5. 3.4 Chapter Summary and Discussion
  10. Chapter 4: The Structure of Ego Networks in Twitter
    1. Abstract
    2. 4.1 Introduction
    3. 4.2 Dataset for the Analysis of Twitter Ego Networks
    4. 4.3 Structural Properties of Ego Networks in Twitter
    5. 4.4 Chapter Summary and Discussion
  11. Chapter 5: Evolutionary Dynamics in Twitter Ego Networks
    1. Abstract
    2. 5.1 Introduction
    3. 5.2 Evolutionary Properties of Social Network Graphs
    4. 5.3 Methodology for the Analysis of the Dynamics of Twitter Ego Networks
    5. 5.4 Dynamics of Twitter Ego Networks
    6. 5.5 Chapter Summary and Discussion
  12. Chapter 6: Conclusion
    1. Abstract
    2. 6.1 Introduction
    3. 6.2 Ego Network Structure and Information Diffusion
    4. 6.3 Research Directions
    5. 6.4 Book Milestones
  13. References

Product information

  • Title: Online Social Networks
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: September 2015
  • Publisher(s): Elsevier
  • ISBN: 9780128030424