Social Media Networks
Module-1 Introduction to Social Networks and Datasets 8 Hours
Introduction to Networks and Graph Theory; Real-world Networks: Types and Characteristics;
Handling and Visualizing Network Datasets; Basic Measures: Degree, Density, Path Length,
Clustering.
Text Books:
T1: Chapters 1 (Introduction), 2 (Graphs), and 3 (Strong and Weak Ties)
T2: Chapter 1 (Mining Twitter), Chapter 10 (Linked Data)
T3: Chapters 1–2 (Introduction, Graphs, Data)
Module-2 Relationships, Homophily, and Signed Networks 8 Hours
Strength of Weak Ties ; Homophily: Definition, Types, and Implications ; Strong vs. Weak
Relationships ; Positive and Negative Relationships ; Social Balance Theory and Signed Graphs
Text Books:
T1: Chapter 3 (Strong and Weak Ties), Chapter 4 (Networks in Their Surrounding
Contexts), Chapter 5 (Positive and Negative Relationships)
T3: Chapter 5 (Dyads and Triads), Chapter 6 (Balance and Signed Graphs)
Module-3 Link Analysis and Network Centrality 8 Hours
Link Analysis: PageRank, HITS ; Centrality Measures: Degree, Closeness, Betweenness,
Eigenvector ; Link Analysis Applications (Search, Influence) ; Cascading Behaviors and
Influence Propagation
Text Books:
T1: Chapter 14 (Link Analysis and Web Search), Chapter 15 (Link Analysis: Hubs and
Authorities), Chapter 19 (Information Cascades)
T3: Chapter 7 (Centrality), Chapter 10 (Connectivity and Flow)
Module-4 Network Growth, Power Laws, and Epidemics 8 Hours
Power Law Distributions in Networks ; Rich-Get-Richer and Preferential Attachment ;
Epidemics in Networks: SI, SIR, Threshold Models ; Case Studies: Information Spread, Disease,
Virality
Text Books:
T1: Chapter 18 (Power Laws and Rich Get Richer), Chapter 21 (Epidemics), Chapter 22
(Small-World Phenomenon)
T3: Chapter 8 (Network Models), Chapter 9 (Diffusion)
Module-5 Small-World Networks, Virality, and Network Cores 8 Hours
Small-World Networks: Watts-Strogatz Model ; Milgram’s Experiment and Six Degrees ;
Pseudocore Concept and K-Core Decomposition ; How to Go Viral on the Web: Influence
Maximization ; Applications in Social Media Strategy
Text Books:
T1: Chapter 20 (The Small-World Phenomenon), Chapter 23 (The Structure of the Web),
Chapter 24 (Modeling Influence)
T3: Chapter 11 (Cohesion and Components), Additional reading from online papers
Course Outcomes:
The student will be able to:
Explain the structure and properties of real-world social networks and differentiate between
various types of social media platforms.
Apply social network analysis metrics (such as centrality, clustering, and connectivity) to
interpret the structure and dynamics of social media networks.
Analyze user relationships, homophily, and influence patterns within signed and unsigned
networks using theoretical models and real-world datasets.
Demonstrate information diffusion, cascading behavior, and virality through computational
models like Independent Cascade and Threshold models.
Evaluate the ethical, privacy, and regulatory challenges posed by social media platforms, and
propose responsible solutions for managing misinformation and data misuse.
Textbooks:
1. Networks, Crowds, and Markets: Reasoning about a Highly Connected World
— David Easley and Jon Kleinberg (Cambridge University Press)
Available free: https://www.cs.cornell.edu/home/kleinber/networks-book/
2. Mining the Social Web (3rd Edition)
— Matthew A. Russell (O’Reilly Media)
3. Social Network Analysis: Methods and Applications
— Stanley Wasserman and Katherine Faust (Cambridge University Press)
Other Online Resources:
Gephi – https://gephi.org (Network visualization tool)
NetworkX – https://networkx.org (Python-based SNA library)
SNAP Datasets – https://snap.stanford.edu/data/
Twitter API Docs – https://developer.twitter.com
K-Core Decomposition – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degeneracy_(graph_theory)
