Opinion dynamics in complex networks

Abstract

Based on the modification of the convergence parameter μ in the Weisbuch-Deffuant (WD) model, we investigated the influence of the network structure on opinion dynamics by comparing the processes of opinion dynamics in the Watts-Strogatz (WS) small-world network and Barabási-Albert (BA) scale-free network. The simulation results present that the time evolution of opinions does not always end up with a consensus; the final number of opinion clusters depends on the value of the bounded confidence but compared with the situation in the original WD model the effect of the bounded confidence is different when dynamics happens in the small-world network and BA network. Furthermore, the structural cohesion of the network is strengthened by the rich nodes in the BA network, which make the opinions evolve at a much faster rate than those in the small-world network.