Models and methods for analyzing complex networks and social network structures

Objectives. The study aimed to investigate contemporary models, methods, and tools used for analyzing complex social network structures, both on the basis of ready-made solutions in the form of services and software, as well as proprietary applications developed using the Python programming language. Such studies make it possible not only to predict the dynamics of social processes (changes in social attitudes), but also to identify trends in socioeconomic development by monitoring users’ opinions on important economic and social issues, both at the level of individual territorial entities (for example, districts, settlements of small towns, etc.) and wider regions.

Methods. Dynamic models and stochastic dynamics analysis methods, which take into account the possibility of self-organization and the presence of memory, are used along with user deanonymization methods and recommendation systems, as well as statistical methods for analyzing profiles in social networks. Numerical modeling methods for analyzing complex networks and processes occurring in them are considered and described in detail. Special attention is paid to data processing in complex network structures using the Python language and its various available libraries.

Results. The specifics of the tasks to be solved in the study of complex network structures and their interdisciplinarity associated with the use of methods of system analysis are described in terms of the theory of complex networks, text analytics, and computational linguistics. In particular, the dynamic models of processes observed in complex social network systems, as well as the structural characteristics of such networks and their relationship with the observed dynamic processes including using the theory of constructing dynamic graphs are studied. The use of neural networks to predict the evolution of dynamic processes and structure of complex social systems is investigated. When creating models describing the observed processes, attention is focused on the use of computational linguistics methods to extract knowledge from text messages of users of social networks.

Conclusions. Network analysis can be used to structure models of interaction between social units: people, collectives, organizations, etc. Compared with other methods, the network approach has the undeniable advantage of operating with data at different levels of research to ensure its continuity. Since communication in social networks almost entirely consists of text messages and various publications, almost all relevant studies use textual analysis methods in conjunction with machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies. Of these, convolutional neural networks demonstrated the best results. However, the use of support vector and decision tree methods should also be mentioned, since these contributed considerably to accuracy. In addition, statistical methods are used to compile data samples and analyze obtained results.

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