This self-contained book describes social influence from a computational point of view, with a focus on recent and practical applications, models, algorithms and open topics for future research. Researchers, scholars, postgraduates and developers interested in research on social networking and the social influence related issues will find this book useful and motivating. The latest research on social computing is presented along with and illustrations on how to understand and manipulate social influence for knowledge discovery by applying various data mining techniques in real world scenarios. Experimental reports, survey papers, models and algorithms with specific optimization problems are depicted. The main topics covered in this book are: chrematistics of social networks, modeling of social influence propagation, popular research problems in social influence analysis such as influence maximization, rumor blocking, rumor source detection, and multiple social influence competing.

Social network analysis applications have experienced tremendous advances within the last few years due in part to increasing trends towards users interacting with each other on the internet. Social networks are organized as graphs, and the data on social networks takes on the form of massive streams, which are mined for a variety of purposes. Social Network Data Analytics covers an important niche in the social network analytics field. This edited volume, contributed by prominent researchers in this field, presents a wide selection of topics on social network data mining such as Structural Properties of Social Networks, Algorithms for Structural Discovery of Social Networks and Content Analysis in Social Networks. This book is also unique in focussing on the data analytical aspects of social networks in the internet scenario, rather than the traditional sociology-driven emphasis prevalent in the existing books, which do not focus on the unique data-intensive characteristics of online social networks. Emphasis is placed on simplifying the content so that students and practitioners benefit from this book. This book targets advanced level students and researchers concentrating on computer science as a secondary text or reference book. Data mining, database, information security, electronic commerce and machine learning professionals will find this book a valuable asset, as well as primary associations such as ACM, IEEE and Management Science.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 6th International Workshop on Internet and Network Economics, WINE 2010, held in Stanford, USA, in December 2010. The 52 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 95 submissions. The papers are organized in 33 regular papers and 19 short papers.

Social psychologists have always been concerned with two-person interactions and the factors enabling one person to gain dominance. Although social psychology has devised a revolutionary set of techniques to investigate the phenomenon of power, hypotheses are too often ambiguously stated, research programs end in cul-de-sacs, and experiments take on the character of one-shot studies. In an attempt to stimulate new directions in research and to provide cumulative emphasis on the development of scientific theory in the area of power relations, Tedeschi has assembled original and path breaking essays from a dozen outstanding scholars and researchers in the behavioral sciences. More tightly integrated than leading books in the field of power relations, The Social Influence Processes focuses on two-person interactions. A full explanation of the terms "power" and "influence" is followed by an analysis of the major variables in connections between two persons that must be taken into account in a scientific theory of social influence. The subsequent chapters respond to the categories established, attempting a comprehensive construction of social reality and offering suggestions and techniques for measuring and ordering its complexity. Particular areas of research and theory are isolated for consideration in depth--such topics as personality as a power construct (Power and Personality by Henry L. Minton), influence in exchange theory (The Tactical Use of Social Power by Andrew Michener and Robert W. Suchner), and leadership through charisma (Interpersonal Attraction and Social Influence by Elaine Walster and Darcy Abrahams). In the final chapter, Tedeschi, Thomas Bonoma, and Barry R. Schlenker attempt to provide a general theory of social influence processes as they affect the target individual by reviewing the research literature in their own theoretical terms. This remarkable volume will be of interest to students as well

Every day we are asked to fulfil others’ requests, and we make regular requests of others too, seeking compliance with our desires, commands and suggestions. This accessible text provides a uniquely in-depth overview of the different social influence techniques people use in order to improve the chances of their requests being fulfilled. It both describes each of the techniques in question and explores the research behind them, considering questions such as: How do we know that they work? Under what conditions are they more or less likely to be effective? How might individuals successfully resist attempts by others to influence them? The book groups social influence techniques according to a common characteristic: for instance, early chapters describe "sequential" techniques, and techniques involving egotistic mechanisms, such as using the name of one’s interlocutor. Later chapters present techniques based on gestures and facial movements, and others based on the use of specific words, re-examining on the way whether "please" really is a magic word. In every case, author Dariusz Dolinski discusses the existing experimental studies exploring their effectiveness, and how that effectiveness is enhanced or reduced under certain conditions. The book draws on historical material as well as the most up-to-date research, and unpicks the methodological and theoretical controversies involved. The ideal introduction for psychology graduates and undergraduates studying social influence and persuasion, Techniques of Social Influence will also appeal to scholars and students in neighbouring disciplines, as well as interested marketing professionals and practitioners in related fields.

Introductory courses in combinatorial optimization are popular at the upper undergraduate/graduate levels in computer science, industrial engineering, and business management/OR, owed to its wide applications in these fields. There are several published textbooks that treat this course and the authors have used many of them in their own teaching experiences. This present text fills a gap and is organized with a stress on methodology and relevant content, providing a step-by-step approach for the student to become proficient in solving combinatorial optimization problems. Applications and problems are considered via recent technology developments including wireless communication, cloud computing, social networks, and machine learning, to name several, and the reader is led to the frontiers of combinatorial optimization. Each chapter presents common problems, such as minimum spanning tree, shortest path, maximum matching, network flow, set-cover, as well as key algorithms, such as greedy algorithm, dynamic programming, augmenting path, and divide-and-conquer. Historical notes, ample exercises in every chapter, strategically placed graphics, and an extensive bibliography are amongst the gems of this textbook.

Entries cover the concepts of group processes and intergroup relations, ranging from conformity to diversity and from small group interaction to intergroup relations on a global scale.