Multidimensional Model of Opinion Dynamics in Social Networks: Polarization Indices.

We consider a multidimensional model of opinion dynamics in social networks. Within theframework of the model, the dynamics of two interconnected information processes in a socialnetwork is studied. The first process is the process of spreading of the excitation in the network ofagents and their actions observed from outside (e.g., in the form of messages posted in socialmedia). The second process, which has a connection with the first, is the formation of agents’opinions (which are a characteristic of their internal state). We demonstrate that the proposedmodel of opinion dynamics is flexible and allows taking into account the significant effects ofopinion formation in social networks, including consensus or agreement of opinions, preservation ofdifferences in agents’ opinions, and even polarization of opinions. We propose approaches tomeasuring the polarization of opinions and present simulation results. We show that the proposedpolarization index for a network allows one to distinguish and evaluate situations withmeaningfully different multidimensional distributions of opinions in a social network as well as tofind directions of the greatest polarization.