We show how the prevailing majority opinion in a population can be rapidly reversed by a small fraction p of randomly distributed committed agents who consistently proselytize the opposing opinion and are immune to influence. Specifically, we show that when the committed fraction grows beyond a critical value pc≈10\%, there is a dramatic decrease in the time Tc taken for the entire population to adopt the committed opinion. In particular, for complete graphs we show that when p<pc, Tc\~expα(p)N, whereas for p>pc, Tc\~lnN. We conclude with simulation results for Erd\Hos-Rényi random graphs and scale-free networks which show qualitatively similar behavior.
Xie2011 - Social consensus through the influence of committed minorities.pdf:Contact Processes/Xie2011 - Social consensus through the influence of committed minorities.pdf:PDF
%0 Journal Article
%1 Xie2011
%A Xie, J.
%A Sreenivasan, S.
%A Korniss, G.
%A Zhang, W.
%A Lim, C.
%A Szymanski, B. K.
%D 2011
%I American Physical Society
%J Phys. Rev. E
%K consensus-formation graphs networks opinion-formation naming-game zealots
%N 1
%P 011130
%R 10.1103/PhysRevE.84.011130
%T Social consensus through the influence of committed minorities
%V 84
%X We show how the prevailing majority opinion in a population can be rapidly reversed by a small fraction p of randomly distributed committed agents who consistently proselytize the opposing opinion and are immune to influence. Specifically, we show that when the committed fraction grows beyond a critical value pc≈10\%, there is a dramatic decrease in the time Tc taken for the entire population to adopt the committed opinion. In particular, for complete graphs we show that when p<pc, Tc\~expα(p)N, whereas for p>pc, Tc\~lnN. We conclude with simulation results for Erd\Hos-Rényi random graphs and scale-free networks which show qualitatively similar behavior.
@article{Xie2011,
abstract = {We show how the prevailing majority opinion in a population can be rapidly reversed by a small fraction p of randomly distributed committed agents who consistently proselytize the opposing opinion and are immune to influence. Specifically, we show that when the committed fraction grows beyond a critical value pc≈10\%, there is a dramatic decrease in the time Tc taken for the entire population to adopt the committed opinion. In particular, for complete graphs we show that when p<pc, {Tc\~{}exp[α(p)N}], whereas for p>pc, {Tc\~{}lnN}. We conclude with simulation results for {Erd\H{o}s-R\'{e}nyi} random graphs and scale-free networks which show qualitatively similar behavior.},
added-at = {2011-07-25T11:42:59.000+0200},
author = {Xie, J. and Sreenivasan, S. and Korniss, G. and Zhang, W. and Lim, C. and Szymanski, B. K.},
biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/283f71d369b106703a36e081487c0601f/rincedd},
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevE.84.011130},
file = {Xie2011 - Social consensus through the influence of committed minorities.pdf:Contact Processes/Xie2011 - Social consensus through the influence of committed minorities.pdf:PDF},
groups = {public},
interhash = {5300c742d46d8db25c171df395ed8ce2},
intrahash = {c0ca9432c693f55b957ca277c8cff29b},
journal = {Phys. Rev. E},
keywords = {consensus-formation graphs networks opinion-formation naming-game zealots},
number = 1,
pages = 011130,
publisher = {American Physical Society},
timestamp = {2011-07-25T11:52:21.000+0200},
title = {Social consensus through the influence of committed minorities},
username = {rincedd},
volume = 84,
year = 2011
}