Title: Social network restructuring after a node removal

Authors: Rokia Missaoui; Elsa Negre; Dyah Anggraini; Jean Vaillancourt

Addresses: Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO), Case postale 1250, Succursale Hull, Gatineau (Québec), J8X 3X7, Canada ' Université Paris-Dauphine, Place du Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny, 75775 Paris Cedex 16, France ' Université du Québec en Outaouais, Case postale 1250, Succursale Hull, Gatineau (Québec), J8X 3X7, Canada ' Université du Québec en Outaouais, Case postale 1250, Succursale Hull, Gatineau (Québec), J8X 3X7, Canada

Abstract: Central nodes (i.e., prominent actors) in a social network are those that are linked to other nodes in an extensive or critical manner. Therefore, their removal may lead to points of failure. The objective of the present work is to exploit network topology to devise an approach towards: 1) finding a substitute to a deleted node if the latter is a central one; 2) adding appropriate links to maintain the network connected. The approach exploits the role played by nodes to predict the new structure of a social network once one entity disappears. The role of a node in the network is expressed in terms of its centrality in the network. Three important roles are considered: the leader, the mediator and the witness. An entity acts as a leader, a mediator or a witness if it has a high degree centrality, betweenness centrality and closeness centrality, respectively.

Keywords: social network analysis; SNA; centrality; node removal; roles; network prediction; central nodes; network topology.

DOI: 10.1504/IJWET.2013.052582

International Journal of Web Engineering and Technology, 2013 Vol.8 No.1, pp.4 - 26

Published online: 31 Mar 2014 *

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