Power and Trust

Power and Trust

Like any form of human interaction and communication it is possible to view Social Media as a means for the powerful to influence and control the less powerful. But what is power on social media, how might we measure or affect it, and does it translate to the real world? In this lecture we will explore how power has been analysed in social networks and social media systems. We will also look at the characteristics of social networks that impact on power, including Homophily and CyberBalkanization. Finally we will ask what evidence there is that power in social media can affect what goes on in the real world, and explore some real examples to see what the consequences of social media activity can be. Concluding that the power of social media often lies with those operating the network, or with access to the data, rather than the individuals using the system. Trust is a complex philosophical, social and technical notion, but it underlies many of our digital interactions including e-commerce and collective intelligence. In this lecture we will explore how software engineers have implemented trust models based on policy, provenance and reputation. We will take a closer look at both Global and Local reputation-based trust, and see how assumptions of transitivity and asymmetry are useful. Finally we will look at trust in information, otherwise known as credibility, and look at the phenomenon of fake news and how trust methods have been used to combat it.