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arXiv:1402.5644eess.SY

Containment Control for a Social Network with State-Dependent Connectivity

Zhen Kan, Justin Klotz, Eduardo L. Pasiliao, Warren E. Dixon

Abstract

Social interactions influence our thoughts, opinions and actions. In this paper, social interactions are studied within a group of individuals composed of influential social leaders and followers. Each person is assumed to maintain a social state, which can be an emotional state or an opinion. Followers update their social states based on the states of local neighbors, while social leaders maintain a constant desired state. Social interactions are modeled as a general directed graph where each directed edge represents an influence from one person to another. Motivated by the non-local property of fractional-order systems, the social response of individuals in the network are modeled by fractional-order dynamics whose states depend on influences from local neighbors and past experiences. A decentralized influence method is then developed to maintain existing social influence between individuals (i.e., without isolating peers in the group) and to influence the social group to a common desired state (i.e., within a convex hull spanned by social leaders). Mittag-Leffler stability methods are used to prove asymptotic stability of the networked fractional-order system.

arXiv comments
9 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Automatica
Journal reference
DOI
Subjects
eess.SYSystems and Control (EESS)

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Linked by 7 identifiable commenters in 13 comments across 12 threads, from Jan 2017 to Nov 2025.

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Discussed in comments12 threads

    • > host of a lot of military cyber operations Relevant: “Containment Control for a Social Network with State-Dependent Connectivity” (2014), Air Force Research Laboratory, Eglin AFB: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1402.5644.pdf

      LammyView on HNParent context

  1. A Reddit bot drove me insane 1 comment
    • Relevant: “Containment Control for a Social Network with State-Dependent Connectivity” (2014), Air Force Research Laboratory, Eglin AFB: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1402.5644.pdf …a.k.a Reddit's "Most-Addicted City" of 2013…

      LammyView on HNParent context

    • >Also, IGNORE anything on Twitter, Reddit, or HN (ironic ik). The lesswrong/credibledefense/zeihan types are all idiots ime. Using an "objective" tone doesn't make rubbish "objective" Not to mention these sites are FILLED to the brim with bots. Eg. In 2013, the most…

      shufflerofrocksView on HNParent context

  2. The Reddits 1 comment
    • Relevant: “Containment Control for a Social Network with State-Dependent Connectivity” (2014), Air Force Research Laboratory, Eglin AFB: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1402.5644.pdf …a.k.a Reddit's "Most-Addicted City" of 2013…

      LammyView on HNParent context

    • https://twitter.com/reddit_lies/status/1619567947349098496 "Daily reminder that Reddit accidentally outed Eglin AFB as the most “Reddit addicted” city. Eglin AFB has been a huge part of the Pentagon’s social media manipulation campaigns for over a decade now." URLs given at…

      shrubbleView on HNParent context

    • > It became a dumpster fire well over a decade ago Relevant: “Containment Control for a Social Network with State-Dependent Connectivity” (2014), Air Force Research Laboratory, Eglin AFB: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1402.5644.pdf …a.k.a Reddit's "Most-Addicted City" of 2013…

      LammyView on HNParent context

    • I also remember reading several articles along the same lines mostly coming out of Eglin AFB. Due to the horrible state of search engines now I can't find the originals, but a saved paper I have in my bookmarks suggests similar: http://arxiv.org/pdf/1402.5644.pdf It would take…

      jimmygrapesView on HNParent context

    • Here's a fun academic paper HNers may enjoy: "Containment Control for a Social Network with State-Dependent Connectivity" in cooperation with the Air Force Research Laboratory out of Eglin AFB in Florida: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1402.5644.pdf …which (totally coincidentally) was…

      LammyView on HNParent context

  3. Google Search Is Dying 1 comment
    • > This was so easy that I know that if someone put a bit more effort into making the automation less obvious and also using enough real interaction you could do massive manipulation. There have been government studies on this as well, like "Containment Control for a Social…

      LammyView on HNParent context

    • They do. See the removed Reddit blog article about Eglin AFB being the most "Reddit addicted city" removed after commenters pointing out Eglin AFB had social media pilot programs https://web.archive.org/web/20160604042751/http://www.reddit... http://arxiv.org/pdf/1402.5644.pdf…

      sudosysgenView on HNParent context

    • How is it whataboutism? Twitter is posting about state info ops but don't mention any American ones. If you want evidence the US military is running info ops, here it is straight from the horse's mouth : http://arxiv.org/pdf/1402.5644.pdf Beyond that Snowden gave up a few more…

      sudosysgenView on HNParent context

    • I actually gave a talk about automating influence on social media with what effectively amounted to chatbots, as a part of the 2016 election. Many of these factors were used, but also a few other interesting elements this article didn’t mention: 1. Geographic locales have…

      doctorlessView on HNParent context

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