Decoding Echo Chambers: LLM-Powered Simulations Revealing Polarization in Social Networks

Fuente: arXiv
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Hauptverfasser: Wang, Chenxi, Liu, Zongfang, Yang, Dequan, Chen, Xiuying
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2024
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author Wang, Chenxi
Liu, Zongfang
Yang, Dequan
Chen, Xiuying
author_facet Wang, Chenxi
Liu, Zongfang
Yang, Dequan
Chen, Xiuying
contents The impact of social media on critical issues such as echo chambers needs to be addressed, as these phenomena can have disruptive consequences for our society. Traditional research often oversimplifies emotional tendencies and opinion evolution into numbers and formulas, neglecting that news and communication are conveyed through text, which limits these approaches. Hence, in this work, we propose an LLM-based simulation for the social opinion network to evaluate and counter polarization phenomena. We first construct three typical network structures to simulate different characteristics of social interactions. Then, agents interact based on recommendation algorithms and update their strategies through reasoning and analysis. By comparing these interactions with the classic Bounded Confidence Model (BCM), the Friedkin Johnsen (FJ) model, and using echo chamber-related indices, we demonstrate the effectiveness of our framework in simulating opinion dynamics and reproducing phenomena such as opinion polarization and echo chambers. We propose two mitigation methods, active and passive nudges, that can help reduce echo chambers, specifically within language-based simulations. We hope our work will offer valuable insights and guidance for social polarization mitigation.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2409_19338
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Decoding Echo Chambers: LLM-Powered Simulations Revealing Polarization in Social Networks
Wang, Chenxi
Liu, Zongfang
Yang, Dequan
Chen, Xiuying
Social and Information Networks
Computation and Language
The impact of social media on critical issues such as echo chambers needs to be addressed, as these phenomena can have disruptive consequences for our society. Traditional research often oversimplifies emotional tendencies and opinion evolution into numbers and formulas, neglecting that news and communication are conveyed through text, which limits these approaches. Hence, in this work, we propose an LLM-based simulation for the social opinion network to evaluate and counter polarization phenomena. We first construct three typical network structures to simulate different characteristics of social interactions. Then, agents interact based on recommendation algorithms and update their strategies through reasoning and analysis. By comparing these interactions with the classic Bounded Confidence Model (BCM), the Friedkin Johnsen (FJ) model, and using echo chamber-related indices, we demonstrate the effectiveness of our framework in simulating opinion dynamics and reproducing phenomena such as opinion polarization and echo chambers. We propose two mitigation methods, active and passive nudges, that can help reduce echo chambers, specifically within language-based simulations. We hope our work will offer valuable insights and guidance for social polarization mitigation.
title Decoding Echo Chambers: LLM-Powered Simulations Revealing Polarization in Social Networks
topic Social and Information Networks
Computation and Language
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.19338