IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wsi/acsxxx/v14y2011i04ns0219525911003165.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Opinions Manipulation: Media, Power And Gossip

Author

Listed:
  • WALTER QUATTROCIOCCHI

    (Department of Mathematics and Computer Sciences, University of Siena, Italy)

  • ROSARIA CONTE

    (LABSS, CNR – Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, Rome, Italy)

  • ELENA LODI

    (Department of Mathematics and Computer Sciences, University of Siena, Italy)

Abstract

Despite the increasing diffusion of the Internet technology, TV remains the principal medium of communication. People's perceptions, knowledge, beliefs and opinions about matters of fact get (in)formed through the information reported on by the media.However, a single source of information (and consensus) could be a potential cause of anomalies in the structure and evolution of a society.Hence, as the information available (and the way it is reported) is fundamental for our perceptions and opinions, the definition of conditions allowing for a good information to be disseminated is a pressing challenge. In this paper starting from a report on the last Italian political campaign in 2008, we derive a socio-cognitive computational model of opinion dynamics where agents get informed by different sources of information. Then, a what-if analysis, performed through simulations on the model's parameters space, is shown. In particular, the scenario implemented includes three main streams of information acquisition, differing in both the contents and the perceived reliability of the messages spread. Agents' internal opinion is updated either by accessing one of the information sources, namely media and experts, or by exchanging information with one another. They are also endowed with cognitive mechanisms to accept, reject or partially consider the acquired information.

Suggested Citation

  • Walter Quattrociocchi & Rosaria Conte & Elena Lodi, 2011. "Opinions Manipulation: Media, Power And Gossip," Advances in Complex Systems (ACS), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 14(04), pages 567-586.
    • Handle: RePEc:wsi:acsxxx:v:14:y:2011:i:04:n:s0219525911003165
    DOI: 10.1142/S0219525911003165
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S0219525911003165
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1142/S0219525911003165?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jan Lorenz, 2007. "Continuous Opinion Dynamics Under Bounded Confidence: A Survey," International Journal of Modern Physics C (IJMPC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 18(12), pages 1819-1838.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Petter Törnberg, 2018. "Echo chambers and viral misinformation: Modeling fake news as complex contagion," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(9), pages 1-21, September.
    2. Low, Nicholas Kah Yean & Melatos, Andrew, 2022. "Discerning media bias within a network of political allies and opponents: The idealized example of a biased coin," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 590(C).
    3. Haibo Hu & Jonathan J. H. Zhu, 2017. "Social networks, mass media and public opinions," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 12(2), pages 393-411, July.
    4. José M. Oller & Albert Satorra & Adolf Tobeña, 2019. "Unveiling pathways for the fissure among secessionists and unionists in Catalonia: identities, family language, and media influence," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(1), pages 1-13, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Andreas Koulouris & Ioannis Katerelos & Theodore Tsekeris, 2013. "Multi-Equilibria Regulation Agent-Based Model of Opinion Dynamics in Social Networks," Interdisciplinary Description of Complex Systems - scientific journal, Croatian Interdisciplinary Society Provider Homepage: http://indecs.eu, vol. 11(1), pages 51-70.
    2. Dimitris Tsintsaris & Milan Tsompanoglou & Evangelos Ioannidis, 2024. "Dynamics of Social Influence and Knowledge in Networks: Sociophysics Models and Applications in Social Trading, Behavioral Finance and Business," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-27, April.
    3. Guillaume Deffuant & Ilaria Bertazzi & Sylvie Huet, 2018. "The Dark Side Of Gossips: Hints From A Simple Opinion Dynamics Model," Advances in Complex Systems (ACS), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 21(06n07), pages 1-20, September.
    4. G Jordan Maclay & Moody Ahmad, 2021. "An agent based force vector model of social influence that predicts strong polarization in a connected world," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(11), pages 1-42, November.
    5. Nizamani, Sarwat & Memon, Nasrullah & Galam, Serge, 2014. "From public outrage to the burst of public violence: An epidemic-like model," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 416(C), pages 620-630.
    6. Li, Mingwu & Dankowicz, Harry, 2019. "Impact of temporal network structures on the speed of consensus formation in opinion dynamics," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 523(C), pages 1355-1370.
    7. Fu, Guiyuan & Cai, Yunze & Zhang, Weidong, 2017. "Analysis of naming game over networks in the presence of memory loss," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 479(C), pages 350-361.
    8. Hou, Jian & Li, Wenshan & Jiang, Mingyue, 2021. "Opinion dynamics in modified expressed and private model with bounded confidence," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 574(C).
    9. Jalili, Mahdi, 2013. "Social power and opinion formation in complex networks," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 392(4), pages 959-966.
    10. Liu, Qipeng & Wang, Xiaofan, 2013. "Social learning with bounded confidence and heterogeneous agents," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 392(10), pages 2368-2374.
    11. Christos Mavridis & Nikolas Tsakas, 2021. "Social Capital, Communication Channels and Opinion Formation," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 56(4), pages 635-678, May.
    12. Huang, Changwei & Dai, Qionglin & Han, Wenchen & Feng, Yuee & Cheng, Hongyan & Li, Haihong, 2018. "Effects of heterogeneous convergence rate on consensus in opinion dynamics," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 499(C), pages 428-435.
    13. Ding, Fei & Liu, Yun & Shen, Bo & Si, Xia-Meng, 2010. "An evolutionary game theory model of binary opinion formation," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 389(8), pages 1745-1752.
    14. Han, Wenchen & Feng, Yuee & Qian, Xiaolan & Yang, Qihui & Huang, Changwei, 2020. "Clusters and the entropy in opinion dynamics on complex networks," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 559(C).
    15. Hendrickx, Julien M., 2008. "Order preservation in a generalized version of Krause’s opinion dynamics model," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 387(21), pages 5255-5262.
    16. Zhang, Wei & Brandes, Ulrik, 2023. "Conformity versus credibility: A coupled rumor-belief model," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    17. Zheng, Xiaojing & Lu, Jinfei & Chen, Yanbin & Cong, Xinrong & Sun, Cuiping, 2021. "Random belief system dynamics in complex networks under time-varying logic constraints," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 566(C).
    18. Xi Chen & Shen Zhao & Wei Li, 2019. "Opinion Dynamics Model Based on Cognitive Styles: Field-Dependence and Field-Independence," Complexity, Hindawi, vol. 2019, pages 1-12, February.
    19. Nikolaos Askitas, 2017. "Explaining opinion polarisation with opinion copulas," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(8), pages 1-11, August.
    20. Muslim, Roni & NQZ, Rinto Anugraha & Khalif, Muhammad Ardhi, 2024. "Mass media and its impact on opinion dynamics of the nonlinear q-voter model," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 633(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wsi:acsxxx:v:14:y:2011:i:04:n:s0219525911003165. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Tai Tone Lim (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.worldscinet.com/acs/acs.shtml .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.