A complex network analysis of the weighted graph of the web2.0 service network

Abstract

Service providers that own Web2.0 services allow Internet users not only to access their Web2.0 services but also to create new Web2.0 services (mashups) based on theirs. This creation of mashups generates the Web2.0 service network, in which a node represents a Web2.0 service and a link between two nodes represents a mashup using the two Web2.0 services linked. Since this Web2.0 service network is constructed without the control of a single entity (i.e., it is self-organizing), the network topology of the Web2.0 service network shows the scale-free characteristic. With respect of the weighting of those links, however, there are different approaches. Prior research either considered binary links or links that are weighted by summing up the number of mashups. Since the last approach might overestimate the strength of the link, we calculate the link weights according to Newman's approach in this paper. Based on this weighted graph of the Web2.0 service network, we investigate the topology of the weighted graph and examine the pattern of Web2.0 service creations. Our results show that the Newman-based weighted graph of the Web2.0 service network shows the characteristics of a scale-free network and a small-world network. © 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.