arXiv Machine Learning

Digital Twins for Opinion Dynamics: A Generative LLM Framework for Social Networks

The paper introduces a digital‑twin framework that simulates opinion dynamics in real Twitter networks by assigning agents attributes such as persona, emotions, centrality, stubbornness, and influence, and using Mistral‑7B to update opinions based on memory and social exposure. Validation on COVID‑19 and U.S. election 2020 datasets shows the framework reproduces opinion trajectories, reducing prediction error by over 50% compared to classical baselines, and improves structural alignment and polarization dynamics. Ablation studies reveal that agent attributes, memory, and social exposure all contribute to predictive fidelity, with agent attributes being the most critical.

arXiv AI
Aug 11

Knowing You Is Everything: LLM Agents Achieve Near-Perfect Profile-Consistent Reaction Prediction in Social Media Simulation

arXiv:2608. 07498v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Autonomous AI agents in social media present concrete risks to democratic discourse and platform governance, while also offering tools for pre-deployment recommender system testing.

By Ljubisa Bojic, Ljiljana Matic, Joerg Matthes, Milan Cabarkapa, Bojana Dinic, Jue Wang
arXiv Machine Learning
4d ago

Digital Persuasion: Understanding the Impact of Online Influencers on Public Opinion

The paper proposes a Friedkin‑Johnsen based framework to identify influential users in online social networks and assess how they shape community opinion. By manipulating initial opinions in experiments, the authors show that top influencers can significantly shift overall community sentiment, and their influence extends beyond direct neighbors to second‑degree contacts. The framework is validated on a tweet dataset from the U.S. presidential election, illustrating the power of digital influencers to alter public opinion.

By Omran Berjawi, Rida Khatoun, Giuseppe Fenza
arXiv Machine Learning
Sep 2

A Multi-Branch Feature Fusion Approach for Health Misinformation Detection and Propagation

This paper introduces a multi‑branch fusion framework that combines transformer‑based semantics, rhetorical cues, stance representations, and psychologically motivated proxies to detect health misinformation and characterize its spread on online social networks. The authors propose an interpretable Cognitive Propagation Score (CPS) derived from text cues that estimate argument complexity, emotional intensity, and virality potential, aiding diffusion‑risk reasoning when engagement data are missing. Experiments on three benchmark datasets (Constraint, COVID‑19_FNIR, Monkeypox) demonstrate near‑perfect classification and ranking performance, with ablation studies showing complementary gains from psychological and rhetorical components.

By Mkululi Sikosana, Sean Maudsley-Barton, Oluwaseun Ajao
arXiv AI
Sep 3

C$^{3}$T: Counterfactual Causal Reasoning for Sentiment Shifts in Social-Media Conversation Trees

The paper introduces C$^{3}$T, a Counterfactual Causal Conversation Transformer that models sentiment shifts in social‑media conversation trees. It treats discourse moves such as denial, evidence, and toxicity as interventions, predicts node sentiment and shifts, and attributes sentiment changes to specific ancestor messages. The authors also present CaSiRe, a causal sentiment reasoning layer that enriches rumor conversation datasets with sentiment, shift, intervention, and causal‑source annotations, and demonstrate that C$^{3}$T outperforms baseline models in robustness and interpretability.

By S M Rafiuddin, Atriya Sen