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posted by cmn32480 on Saturday August 29 2015, @06:22AM   Printer-friendly
from the hanging-out-with-like-minded-people-is-boring dept.

[translation mine] Arab Spring 2011: Young people take to the streets, they fight for a better life. Only when the movement grows do older people gain the courage to join them.

Why did the young people see the possibility for change, but not their elders? Network researchers believe to have found a reason: the young people were able to imagine that the majority of the people stood behind them. They were under the so-called "Illusion of Majority."

People orient themselves to the majority. However, what they take to be the majority is distorted through social networks, says Kristina Lerman of the University of Southern California: "Under certain requirements a minority opinion can appear to be extremely popular."

That depends on the structure of networks. The users don't know all participants, only a part - those people with whom they're connected. Whatever the majority of their friends do, they conclude the majority of participants do. They are then readier to join the perceived majority.

People who are particularly connected to others play an especially important role in the phenomenon of opinion formation. The full paper from Kristina Lerman is here.

Social networks mediated by technology can be disrupted by tech-savvy governments. As more social connections become purely online, will revolution in the future become impossible?


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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by aristarchus on Saturday August 29 2015, @07:42AM

    by aristarchus (2645) on Saturday August 29 2015, @07:42AM (#229369) Journal

    Or Nixon's "Silent Majority". There is a reason they are silent. The reason is, they don't exist. You should actually verify your majority! This takes hard political work, the kind of work that a community activist does, like Obama did. The Right Wing in American has fallen for this illusion massively. They are the 12% that supported Bush at the end of is presidency. And now they get Trump. Remember, most Americans are liberals, and they surround you.

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  • (Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Saturday August 29 2015, @08:09AM

    by dyingtolive (952) on Saturday August 29 2015, @08:09AM (#229380)

    I liked you more before you started crushing on Mighty Buzzard. Be your grip with him valid or otherwise, he's not even involved with this one; you could have let it go just once.

    --
    Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
    • (Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Saturday August 29 2015, @08:13AM

      by dyingtolive (952) on Saturday August 29 2015, @08:13AM (#229382)

      :%s/grip/gripe/g

      --
      Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
      • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Saturday August 29 2015, @08:19AM

        by aristarchus (2645) on Saturday August 29 2015, @08:19AM (#229384) Journal

        Yeah, maybe. I tend to think the Buzz can handle whatever I throw his way. But the issue here is "bubbles" and "echo chambers", which relate to what The Mighty Buzzard is always claiming is "censorship". I have not been able to get the Buzz to see that maybe such views are in fact marginal to the point they have no place in public discussion. Hey, would you like to help me inspect my packets?

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 29 2015, @07:08PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 29 2015, @07:08PM (#229513)

          Views that are marginal have no place in public discussion.

          Tell me what you think about "the blacks" and "the gays" next.

          • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Saturday August 29 2015, @07:30PM

            by aristarchus (2645) on Saturday August 29 2015, @07:30PM (#229520) Journal

            To answer your AC question directly, discussions about "the blacks" and "the gays" have no place either, since they are promulgated by racists and homophobes, again extreme minority positions that some hold only because of past psychological malfunction and the illusion of not being wacko. Did you mis-understand me? No apology necessary, just try to educate yourself a bit more.

  • (Score: 3, Touché) by VortexCortex on Saturday August 29 2015, @08:42AM

    by VortexCortex (4067) on Saturday August 29 2015, @08:42AM (#229390)

    You should actually verify your majority! This takes hard political work, the kind of work that a community activist does, like Obama did.

    And also, McCarthy...

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 29 2015, @04:36PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 29 2015, @04:36PM (#229453)

    Remember, most Americans are liberals, and they surround you.

    wait wahhht? Did you even read the summary?

    Here let me C&P it for you Whatever the majority of their friends do, they conclude the majority of participants do.

    Our nation is about 40/40 with a floating 20.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 29 2015, @05:50PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 29 2015, @05:50PM (#229486)

      Citation please, which includes how liberal, conservative, and other terms have been defined.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 30 2015, @12:30AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 30 2015, @12:30AM (#229628)

      40% don't care, 40% Democrat, 20% floating Republicans, no matter how many times we try to flush them.