Network distribution and sentiment interaction: Information diffusion mechanisms between social bots and human users on social media

When public health emergencies occur, a large amount of low-credibility information is widely disseminated by social bots, and public sentiment is easily manipulated by social bots, which may pose a potential threat to the public opinion ecology of social media. Therefore, exploring how social bots affect the mechanism of information diffusion in social networks is a key strategy for network governance. This study combines machine learning methods and causal regression methods to explore how social bots influence information diffusion in social networks with theoretical support. Specifically, combining stakeholder perspective and emotional contagion theory, we proposed several questions and hypotheses to investigate the influence of social bots. Then, the study obtained 144,314 pieces of public opinion data related to COVID-19 in J city from March 1, 2022, to April 18, 2022, on Weibo, and selected 185,782 pieces of data related to the outbreak of COVID-19 in X city from December 9, 2021, to January 10, 2022, as supplement and verification. A comparative analysis of different data sets revealed the following findings. Firstly, through the STM topic model, it is found that some topics posted by social bots are significantly different from those posted by humans, and social bots play an important role in certain topics. Secondly, based on regression analysis, the study found that social bots tend to transmit information with negative sentiments more than positive sentiments. Thirdly, the study verifies the specific distribution of social bots in sentimental transmission through network analysis and finds that social bots are weaker than human users in the ability to spread negative sentiments. Finally, the Granger causality test is used to confirm that the sentiments of humans and bots can predict each other in time series. The results provide practical suggestions for emergency management under sudden public opinion and provide a useful reference for the identification and analysis of social bots, which is conducive to the maintenance of network security and the stability of social order.     

Deep strategic mediatization: Organizational leaders’ knowledge and usage of social bots in an era of disinformation

We identified a lack of theoretical concepts and empirical knowledge about the perception and usage of social bots from the organizational and communication management perspective. Therefore, we first introduce social bots in the realm of communication and information management by using a profound literature review. Second, by building on mediatization theory and strategic communication, we introduce the concept of deep strategic mediatization. By surveying the attitudes towards and usage of social bots of leading European communication professionals (n = 2,247) from 49 European countries, we thirdly offer first indications how diverse European organizations in different European regions use social bots. Results indicate, that leading communication professionals in Central and Western Europe as well as Scandinavia perceive highly ethical challenges, while in Southern and Eastern Europe professionals are less skeptical regarding the usage of social bots. Only 11.5 percent (n = 257) declare their organization uses or are making plans to use social bots for strategic communication. They are used primarily for identifying and following social networks users. This refers specifically to the usage of digital traces for strategic communication purposes e.g., to identify topic area opinion leaders or social media influencers. However, this represents only a small minority of the sample – leading to the conclusion that only a small minority of organizations already practice deep strategic mediatization.     

Who captures whom – Pokémon or tourists? A perspective of the Stimulus-Organism-Response model

Since its launch in 2016, Pokémon Go has attracted huge numbers of players, causing a boom in this game market. Although it is not as popular as before, from time to time we still find crowds of players gathered in some spots where Pokémon appear. Numerous reports have explored this Pokémon phenomenon; however, the exact reasons for its popularity remain unknown. The purpose of this study is to explore the post-adoption behavior of Pokémon Go players and its influential factors in the gaming and tourism industries. The theoretical model of stimulus-organism-response was drawn on to examine the impact of the environmental stimuli (social influence and media influence) on players’ internal organisms, which in turn affect their post-experience responses. Moreover, gender differences were also examined in the hypothetical relationships. A total of 342 valid questionnaires from actual gamers were collected in this study, and data analysis was performed using a structural equation model. The results show that stimulus effects, such as social stimuli (critical mass and social interaction) and media stimuli (content timeliness and media richness), have significant impacts on the players’ internal gamified experience (attachment and conformity), which in turn affect their visit intention to catch creatures at certain attractions and to continue playing Pokémon Go. Further, we have also found that players’ intention to visit Pokémon spots is significantly correlated with their intention to continue playing the game. Findings provide links between gamification and tourism literature. Further theoretical and managerial implications are provided.     

How Many Bots in Russian Troll Tweets?

Increased usage of bots through the Internet in general, and social networks in particular, has many implications related to influencing public opinion. Mechanisms to distinguish humans from machines span a broad spectrum of applications and hence vary in their nature and complexity. Here we use several public Twitter datasets to build a model that can predict whether or not an account is a bot account based on features extracted at the tweet or the account level. We then apply the model to Twitter's Russian Troll Tweets dataset. At the account level, we evaluate features related to how often Twitter accounts are tweeting, as previous research has shown that bots are very active at some account levels and very low at others. At the tweet level, we noticed that bot accounts tend to sound more formal or structured, whereas real user accounts tend to be more informal in that they contain more slang, slurs, cursing, and the like. We also noted that bots can be created for a range of different goals (e.g., marketing and politics) and that their behaviors vary based on those distinct goals. Ultimately, for high bot-prediction accuracy, models should consider and distinguish among the different goals for which bots are created.     

考虑组织要素的与不同文化接触下博弈均衡演化模型

在运用演化博弈理论分析经济体制的进化时，奥野、松井提出了一个与不同文化接触时经济体制向更优制度进化的演化博弈分析模型。本文在这一模型的基础上，考察了当现有模型中分散的参与者形成一个社会组织系统参与博弈时，与不同文化发生接触导致经济体制向更优制度进化的问题。通过对新模型的分析表明：当分散的参与者形成一个组织后，通过与不同文化的交流，排除了帕累托劣位均衡的出现，即经济体制摆脱了进化的路径依赖性；组织作为博弈的参与者，可以通过控制组织的开放程度引导经济体制的演化方向；当现有社会体制的组织成本较大时，随着坚持现有体制的收益不断减少，社会更易于实现体制的变革。     

You talkin’ to me? Exploring Human/Bot Communication Patterns during Riot Events

We analyze a data-set including more than 4.5 million tweets related to four highly emotional riot events. In particular, we examine statistically significant structural patterns that emerge as humans directly engage in an exchange of emotional messages with other humans on Twitter. Furthermore, we compare typical human-to-human communication patterns with those that emerge as bots engage in an emotional message-exchange with human users. To this end, we apply the novel concept of emotion-exchange motifs. We found that a) human-to-human conversations results in a variety of motifs that contain reciprocal edges and self-loops, b) bots predominantly contribute to the emergence of message broadcasting, single-way message sending behavior, c) in contrast to previous findings we found that in certain events bots frequently engage in direct message exchanges with humans, d) during riot events bots tend to direct fear-conveying messages to human users.     

基于演化博弈的战略性新兴产业集群共生技术协同创新研究

产业集群作为战略性新兴产业发展的主要模式,已成为各国学术界讨论的热点话题。我国处于供给侧结构改革、转变经济发展方式的重要时期,需要集中力量发展战略性新兴产业。本文建立以集群内企业和科研院所为博弈主体的双方演化博弈模型,通过稳定策略分析可知,确定合理的利益分配是各方保持协同治理的核心；同时加入一些奖励惩罚机制以及信息共享机制对各主体具有激励作用,政府的监管,则进一步优化对企业间的协同治理。     

统计数据生成过程博弈的分析

宏观统计数据的生成过程中涉及众多参与方,彼此之间形成多种博弈格局,综合作用决定了最终统计数据的质量。对基层单位(或地方政府)之间、地方统计部门与地方政府之间以及数据填报单位(下级统计部门)与上级统计部门之间所进行三类博弈的分析结果表明:基层单位的数据填报受利益再分配原则、决策损失程度与惩罚力度的影响;加大统计检查概率以及对统计造假的惩处力度,可望遏止地方政府的干预、促进地方统计部门实报,而推行统计体系内的垂直管理体制改革则具有更大的可操作性;统计处罚与奖励、完善政府绩效考核机制、赋予统计数据用户以充分的监督权力,都是统计监督博弈中应考虑采取的对策。     

准公共物品私人供给机制的博弈分析——以中国交通基础设施投资为例

本文根据交通基础设施投资需求与政府投资能力二者之间的三种关系,构建了政府与私人投资的三重博弈模型,通过对政府完全供给、私人自发参与供给和私人有偿参与供给三种情形下的博弈均衡分析,阐明了准公共物品领域中政府与私人投资者的博弈动机、行为以及效果,明确提出政府应占据博弈的主导地位以及优惠政策必须适时和适度,才能建立起社会收益与私人收益的共赢结构。     

R&D合作中知识窃取和知识保护的博弈分析

知识产权保护一直是R＆D合作中的热点问题。在综合考虑知识的共享比例和非正常溢出率、知识保护成本、知识窃取成功率以及社会惩罚等因素的基础上,构建了一个R＆D合作组织间知识窃取和保护的博弈模型,分析其均衡实现条件及其影响因素。研究表明,R＆D合作组织的知识保护和知识窃取具有内在联动机制,企业的知识保护概率受知识保护成本、非正常知识溢出比率和对方知识窃取成功率等因素的影响,而合作伙伴的知识窃取概率取决于非正常知识溢出收益、社会惩罚和知识窃取成功率。针对上述结论,以一个数值算例加以说明,最后提出了相应的管理启示。     

基于社交平台的社交类游戏对大学生影响的实证研究与分析

近两年来,出现在社交平台上的新游戏形式——社交类游戏在短时间内迅速普及。据统计,社交类游戏中,农场游戏的用户数量是最多,玩家数量已经突破了一亿。这一现象引起了社会的广泛关注。在以往关于网络游戏研究的指导下,结合社交类游戏的自身特点,通过调查问卷的方式了解社交类游戏在短时间内风靡的原因和这类游戏对大学生玩家产生的影响。从而帮助大众全面了解这类游戏,为游戏开发商提取优质的社交类游戏的元素提供一定参考;为游戏监管部门规范这类游戏提供相关依据。     

基于前景理论的重大工程多主体利益博弈与行为演化机理

研究重大工程项目中政府、社会资本与社会公众三个利益主体间的经济利益博弈及其行为分析。将前景理论引入三方演化博弈分析过程,构建出不完全信息对称有限理性假设下的感知收益矩阵。运用复制动态方程分析政府、社会资本、公众三方在利益驱动下的博弈策略选择机理。结合演化博弈结果的仿真数据分析,提出政府建立合理的激励与约束机制、增强奖惩力度、提高公众的参与意识,以促使各方在项目预期目标与最终目标上相符合。     

网商生态系统交易主体间信用行为博弈研究

随着电子商务的迅猛发展,信用问题越来越被人们所重视。以混合战略博弈理论为依据,研究网商生态系统中交易主体间的信用行为博弈问题,探究信用问题产生的原因,并根据建立的博弈模型分析得到混合纳什均衡解。通过对混合纳什均衡解分析得到,对采取欺诈经营的网商的惩罚力度越大,网商通过欺诈进行获利的空间越小,选择诚信经营的网商比例就越大,这对于网商生态系统交易环境中的信用问题的改善有着重要的作用。     

协同治理:中国公募基金会与政府之间的现实博弈与关系走向

在中国,公募基金会是一个非政府组织,同时也与政府改革有着密切的关系,一定意义上说,它实际上是政府体制改革的产物,是一种在体制内产生的外部力量且某种意义类似官办性质的组织。因此,公募基金会的形成与发展,不仅昭示了政府从传统的公共行政走向现代公共治理的过程,还体现了第三部门对政府的"角色互补"以及在相互之间的互动博弈中形成的协同治理关系。     

基于惩罚机制的产学研合作演化博弈分析

产学研合作对构建国家创新体系和实现向创新驱动型经济体转变具有重要的作用,而在新形势下,多方参与的产学研合作模式成为主流,为保证各方的利益及合作顺利进行,在长期合作中需要有一定的约束惩罚机制。首先建立多人多策略的演化博弈模型,并对各情况下的收益进行分析计算;然后建立惩罚机制,并把惩罚和收益关联起来,调整各方不同情况下的收益;之后使用粒子群优化算法进行模拟仿真,摒弃传统固定好数值的静态模拟方法,考虑"支出-收益"比例和"惩罚-收益"比例的动态数值分析,模拟得出惩罚约束存在下多人多策略的产学研合作演化情况;最后,得出结论并提出相应的对策建议。     

企业技术消化吸收的演化博弈分析

知识产权保护强度直接影响到我国企业技术消化吸收工作的开展.在假设引进技术的企业为有限理性的基础上,构建了潜在消化吸收者和潜在剽窃者的演化博弈模型.     

税收征收管理中的博弈分析

应用博弈论的分析方法，在强调个人理性和集体理性矛盾的基础上研究了税收征收管理中的问题。建立相应的定量分析模型，分析了某些关键因素对参与人均衡行为的,基于分析结果，给出降低逃税现象，发生可能性的若干建议。     

Physogs: a game with consequences

In 1939, an unusual card game, Physogs, debuted in the United Kingdom. Based on physiognomic principles, it instructed players as to how to read and construct facial features and character types. Thirty years later, a new form of composite facial recognition, Photofit, was incorporated into the practice of the British police. Both projects, Physogs and Photofit, were the brainchild of one man, Jacques Penry, representing his twentieth-century iteration of physiognomy. How did a card game become an origin point for a new approach to policing?     

Free will and moral responsibility in video games

Can a player be held morally responsible for the choices that she makes within a videogame? Do the moral choices that the player makes reflect in any way on the player’s actual moral sensibilities? Many videogames offer players the options to make numerous choices within the game, including moral choices. But the scope of these choices is quite limited. I attempt to analyze these issues by drawing on philosophical debates about the nature of free will. Many philosophers worry that, if our actions are predetermined, then we cannot be held morally responsible for them. However, Harry Frankfurt’s compatibilist account of free will suggests that an agent can be held morally responsible for actions that she wills, even if the agent is not free to act otherwise. Using Frankfurt’s analysis, I suggest that videogames represent deterministic worlds in which players lack the ability to freely choose what they do, and yet players can be held morally responsible for some of their actions, specifically those actions that the player wants to do. Finally, I offer some speculative comments on how these considerations might impact our understanding of the player’s moral psychology as it relates to the ethics of imagined fictional events.     

博弈视角下政府应对社会冷漠行为分析

随着改革开放的深入推进,社会生活日新月异,经济文化快速发展,社会新情况、新面貌不断出现,人们在享受改革开放带来的巨大红利的时候,也不得不面对其带来的一系列负面影响。比如说社会冷漠问题的出现,就一次次刺痛了社会的神经。在经济利益的驱使下,很多人不考虑道德机制对自身的约束,只顾自身利益最大化。本文将在博弈论的视角下,先不考虑到相关约束机制存在,从个体、社会等角度进行博弈分析,然后将道德机制引入到个体博弈之中,改变博弈的收益结构,使援助成为社会个体的最优选择,从而减少社会冷漠行为的发生。