Opinion analysis in online networks using swarm intelligence

Abstract

More and more online communities are crystallizing on the Internet, where members cultivate friendships, join groups sharing the same interests and discuss with one another. The network structure enables the members of the community to organize themselves independently by means of simple communication and interaction. The collective intelligent behavior leads to the fact that opinions are not formed mainly by mass media but by network relationships. The analysis of opinion formation in networks is a powerful instrument for market research. This paper introduces an approach which enables an explanation and a forecast of the opinions of individual community members according to their network relationships by combining methods from the fields of text mining and swarm intelligence.

(Diese Publikation ist nur in deutscher Sprache verfügbar.)