Entropy and complexity unveil the landscape of memes evolution
| Autor: | Carlo Michele Valensise, Walter Quattrociocchi, Gabriele Etta, Alessandro Galeazzi, Alessandra Serra, Matteo Cinelli |
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| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
FOS: Computer and information sciences
Physics - Physics and Society Computer science Science Complex networks FOS: Physical sciences Context (language use) Physics and Society (physics.soc-ph) Article Social Networking Computer Science - Computers and Society Computers and Society (cs.CY) Information theory and computation Humans Entropy (information theory) Cluster analysis Parallels Language TRACE (psycholinguistics) Memes Cognitive science Multidisciplinary Artificial neural network Information Dissemination business.industry Social Dynamics Complex Systems Cognition Complex Systems Social Dynamics Memes Medicine The Internet business Social Media |
| Zdroj: | Scientific Reports Scientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-9 (2021) |
| ISSN: | 2045-2322 |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41598-021-99468-6 |
| Popis: | On the Internet, information circulates fast and widely, and the form of content adapts to comply with users’ cognitive abilities. Memes are an emerging aspect of the internet system of signification, and their visual schemes evolve by adapting to a heterogeneous context. A fundamental question is whether they present culturally and temporally transcendent characteristics in their organizing principles. In this work, we study the evolution of 2 million visual memes published on Reddit over ten years, from 2011 to 2020, in terms of their statistical complexity and entropy. A combination of a deep neural network and a clustering algorithm is used to group memes according to the underlying templates. The grouping of memes is the cornerstone to trace the growth curve of these objects. We observe an exponential growth of the number of new created templates with a doubling time of approximately 6 months, and find that long-lasting templates are associated with strong early adoption. Notably, the creation of new memes is accompanied with an increased visual complexity of memes content, in a continuous effort to represent social trends and attitudes, that parallels a trend observed also in painting art. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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