Topic: Modeling Social Media Effect on Civil Revolutions
Speaker: Nazmiye Gizem Bacaksizlar
Abstract:
This study is a modeling experiment of the social media effect on civil revolutions with preliminary results. The literature review on modeling civil revolutions presents three interrelated aspects. First, an Agent-Based Modeling (ABM) approach is mentioned, as there is increasing interest in computational modeling of human systems. ABM helps us to assess the dynamics of civil revolutions. The ABM methodology is reviewed in terms of its benefits for understanding micro and macro level behaviors of the problem. Second, current computational ABM models are presented, and the analysis of their comparison is highlighted. This is important for future work since the contribution of our research is linked to previous studies. The main research question is: “How does the social media affect protesters?” Therefore, social media and its effect on protester networks are investigated. Third, two real events from political protests in Egypt and Spain are examined, including the outcomes of social media use. These three interrelated parts are shown using a System Dynamics view to combine this complex problem’s micro and macro level dynamics. Also, preliminary results of the base model are introduced.