Diffusion of Culture and the 'Pagerank Effect'
10 Pages Posted: 9 Jan 2011
Date Written: November 24, 2010
Abstract
We present the Meme-to-Web model - an abstract agent-based model of cultural production and access, aimed at reproducing the dynamics of peer-based content production and retrieval. Agents generate and link cultural artifacts drawing on knowledge both existing and acquired during previous explorations, loosely mimicking the behavior of web surfers. We test three content access strategies: random walking, content searching with information overload, and a mix of the two. Results show a clear leveling effect of PageRank searches on the distribution of visits to artifacts, an effect also documented in related studies. At the same time the mediation performed by the PageRank in the access phase also affects content production and generates very different network shapes that share certain properties with real world web and blog networks.
Keywords: memes, pagerank, content production, networks, collective filtering
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