Modeling dynamics of attention in social media with user efficiency

Abstract

Evolution of online social networks is driven by the need of their members to share and consume content, resulting in a complex interplay between individual activity and attention received from others. In a context of increasing information overload and limited resources, discovering which are the most successful behavioral patterns to attract attention is very important. To shed light on the matter, we look into the patterns of activity and popularity of users in the Yahoo Meme microblogging service. We observe that a combination of different type of social and content-producing activity is necessary to attract attention and the efficiency of users, namely the average attention received per piece of content published, for many users has a defined trend in its temporal footprint. The analysis of the user time series of efficiency shows different classes of users whose different activity patterns give insights on the type of behavior that pays off best in terms of attention gathering. In particular, sharing content with high spreading potential and then supporting the attention raised by it with social activity emerges as a frequent pattern for users gaining efficiency over time.