Abstract Understanding the importance of links in transmitting information in a network can provide ways to hinder or postpone ongoing dynamical phenomena like the spreading of epidemic or the diffusion of information. In this work, we propose a new measure based on stochastic diffusion processes, the transmission centrality, that captures the importance of links by estimating the average numbe...

There are considerable difficulties in the way of the development of useful and reliable simulation models of social phenomena, including that any simulation necessarily includes many assumptions that are not directly supported by evidence. Despite these difficulties, many still hope to develop quite general models of social phenomena. This paper argues that such hopes are ill-founded, in other...

The use of computer simulation techniques for the study of social phenomena, or Social Simulation, is a relatively new field (Gibert & Troitzch, 2005). By using Multi Agent Simulation (MAS) techniques, among others, social scientists are able to explore “what if” scenarios of emergent behaviors in complex social systems. However, the Social Simulation method faces many challenges : a) human sub...

This paper will introduce a theory of emergent animal social complexity using various results from computational models and empirical results. These results will be organized into a vertical model of social complexity. This will support the perspective that social complexity is in essence an emergent phenomenon while helping to answer of analysis larger than the individual organism. The second ...

Einleitung Wir alle geben im Rahmen unserer alltäglichen Kommunikation und sozialen Interaktion, bewusst oder unbewusst, eine Vielzahl von Daten über uns und andere Personen preis. Für die zumeist jugendlichen Nutzer und Mitglieder von sozialen Netzwerken (z. B. StudiVZ, Facebook usw.) gehört die Bereitstellung eines persönlichen Profils (mit Kontaktdaten, Daten über Hobbys, Lieblingsbücher, un...

While yawning is an example of behavioral continuity within mammals, the contagion of yawning, that is yawning after seeing someone else yawning, is only present in humans. We proposed that contagion of yawning is only possible in species showing altogether empathy, TOM and imitation and other perspective-taking capabilities. Preston and de Waal claimed that the PA Model might help explaining a...

This paper investigates the development of nanotechnology from three different points of view: (1) as a new technology, (2) as social dynamics, and (3) as an ideology. It argues that nanotechnology is not a new technology but a new social dynamics guided by programmatic ideas and situated at the interface between science and the public. Rather than being determined by social constructivism, the...

Recent research has shown that social media platforms like twitter can provide relevant information to improve situation awareness during emergencies. Previous work is mostly concentrated on the classification and analysis of tweets utilizing crowdsourcing or machine learning techniques. However, managing the high volume and velocity of social media messages still remains challenging. In order ...

In this paper we present a new approach to enhance information extraction from social media that relies upon the geographical relations between twitter data and flood phenomena. We use specific geographical features like hydrological data and digital elevation models to analyze the spatiotemporal distribution of georeferenced twitter messages. This approach is applied to examine the River Elbe ...