Homophily and the speed of social mobilization: the effect of acquired and ascribed traits.

ABSTRACT: Large-scale mobilization of individuals across social networks is becoming increasingly prevalent in society. However, little is known about what affects the speed of social mobilization. Here we use a framed field experiment to identify and measure properties of individuals and their relationships that predict mobilization speed. We ran a global social mobilization contest and recorded personal traits of the participants and those they recruited. We studied the effects of ascribed traits (gender, age) and acquired traits (geography, and information source) on the speed of mobilization. We found that homophily, a preference for interacting with other individuals with similar traits, had a mixed role in social mobilization. Homophily was present for acquired traits, in which mobilization sp

SUBMITTER: Alstott J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3989266 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature