微博空间中的意见典范用户及其作用路径研究

From’Opinion Leader’to’Opinion Model’:Opinion Model Users on Sina Weibo

本文提出微博"意见典范"的概念和问题,并对其现象和路径进行实证分析。以新浪微博用户(N=7825)为样本,结合文本挖掘、统计分析,考察在微博使用中的典范用户阶层及其作用、路径和后果。研究发现如下:其一,微博虚拟社会中的"意见典范"用户强调的不是"意见领袖"的帖子扩散力或使其他用户接收、认同、扩散某种意见或者讯息的作用,而是从"内容扩散"到"用户内容整体特征扩散"的转变。其二,微博用户表现出朝向顶部的"意见典范",用户社会层级发生内容趋近化的"引力",其程度和被吸引用户的影响力"能量"大小成正比。其三,用户的影响力和该用户相似于全体用户的平均程度成正比。其四,个体在向"典范"发生内容趋同的过程中减少丰富性、差异性,带来个体趋于自我重复、封闭、窄化的"信息茧房"后果。意见典范及其典范化作用描述的,不是从用户主动地施加于其他用户的某种转变,而是微博中不同影响力"能量"级的用户趋同的客观演化机制;它描述的也不只是一种静态的用户群体或网络社会层级的静态划分,更重要地是微博中一种动态而确定性的社会内容同质化。

This research put forward the concept of"model of opinion"in Sina Weibo,and conducted an empirical analysis of its phenomenon and path.Taking Sina Weibo users(N=7825)as a sample,we examined the role,path and consequences of typical model users using text mining and statistical analysis.First,the"opinion model users"in the Weibo society didn’t emphasize the influential power of"opinion leaders"to let other users receive,recognize and diffuse certain opinions and information.Instead,it focused on the overall characteristics of user generated content.Second,Weibo users show the"gravity"of content towards the top"opinion model user",and the degree of it is proportional to the"energy"it attracted users.Third,the influence of a user is proportional to the degree of similarity between the user and all other users.Fourth,individuals reduce richness and differences in the process of content convergence when they tend to"models",which will bring about the consequences of information"cocoon"that individuals tend to repeat and narrow themselves.Opinion model and its function did not tend to describe a certain transformation from a user to another,but an objective evolution mechanism of convergence with different levels of users.It did not describe a static division of network social levels.More importantly,the research made efforts to describe a dynamic and deterministic social content homogenization in Weibo.