Homophily in Complex Networks: Measures, Models, and Applications

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Saxena, Akrati, Kumar, Gaurav, Meena, Chandrakala
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Saxena, Akrati
Kumar, Gaurav
Meena, Chandrakala
author_facet Saxena, Akrati
Kumar, Gaurav
Meena, Chandrakala
contents Homophily, the tendency of individuals to connect with others who share similar attributes, is a defining feature of social networks. Understanding how groups interact, both within and across, is crucial for uncovering the dynamics of network evolution and the emergence of structural inequalities in these network. This tutorial offers a comprehensive overview of homophily, covering its various definitions, key properties, and the limitations of widely used metrics. Extending beyond traditional pairwise interactions, we will discuss homophily in higher-order network structures such as hypergraphs and simplicial complexes. We will further discuss network generating models capable of producing different types of homophilic networks with tunable levels of homophily and highlight their relevance in real-world contexts. The tutorial concludes with a discussion of open challenges, emerging directions, and opportunities for further research in this area.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_18289
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Homophily in Complex Networks: Measures, Models, and Applications
Saxena, Akrati
Kumar, Gaurav
Meena, Chandrakala
Social and Information Networks
Homophily, the tendency of individuals to connect with others who share similar attributes, is a defining feature of social networks. Understanding how groups interact, both within and across, is crucial for uncovering the dynamics of network evolution and the emergence of structural inequalities in these network. This tutorial offers a comprehensive overview of homophily, covering its various definitions, key properties, and the limitations of widely used metrics. Extending beyond traditional pairwise interactions, we will discuss homophily in higher-order network structures such as hypergraphs and simplicial complexes. We will further discuss network generating models capable of producing different types of homophilic networks with tunable levels of homophily and highlight their relevance in real-world contexts. The tutorial concludes with a discussion of open challenges, emerging directions, and opportunities for further research in this area.
title Homophily in Complex Networks: Measures, Models, and Applications
topic Social and Information Networks
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.18289