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Who Ties the World Together? Evidence from a Large Online Social Network

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Book cover Complex Networks and Their Applications VIII (COMPLEX NETWORKS 2019)

Part of the book series: Studies in Computational Intelligence ((SCI,volume 882))

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Abstract

Social ties form the bedrock of the global economy and international political order. Understanding the nature of these ties is thus a focus of social science research in fields including economics, sociology, political science, geography, and demography. Yet prior empirical studies have been constrained by a lack of granular data on the interconnections between individuals; most existing work instead uses indirect proxies for international ties such as levels of international trade or air passenger data. In this study, using several billion domestic and international Facebook friendships, we explore in detail the relationship between international social ties and human mobility. Our findings suggest that long-term migration accounts for roughly 83% of international ties on Facebook. Migrants play a critical role in bridging international social networks.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Information, U.C. Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA

    Guanghua Chi & Joshua E. Blumenstock

  2. Facebook, Menlo Park, CA, 94025, USA

    Bogdan State & Lada Adamic

Authors
  1. Guanghua Chi
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  2. Bogdan State
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  3. Joshua E. Blumenstock
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  4. Lada Adamic
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Guanghua Chi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Burgundy, Dijon Cedex, France

    Hocine Cherifi

  2. Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy

    Sabrina Gaito

  3. University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

    José Fernendo Mendes

  4. Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Leganés, Madrid, Spain

    Esteban Moro

  5. Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA

    Luis Mateus Rocha

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Chi, G., State, B., Blumenstock, J.E., Adamic, L. (2020). Who Ties the World Together? Evidence from a Large Online Social Network. In: Cherifi, H., Gaito, S., Mendes, J., Moro, E., Rocha, L. (eds) Complex Networks and Their Applications VIII. COMPLEX NETWORKS 2019. Studies in Computational Intelligence, vol 882. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36683-4_37

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