Are you an influencer, or a lurker? why not both! understanding alternate, opposite behaviors in complex social network systems

Nowadays, the massive and horizontal diffusion of online social networks (OSNs) allows users to uncover different aspects about themselves through the use of multiple online platforms. In this respect, linking the accounts related to the same individual enables a more complete and thorough analysis of online behaviors. Indeed, the complexity of scenarios concerning the analysis of linked accounts across multiple platforms raises an emergence for developing effective models and methods to understand the characteristics and dynamics of multiple, interconnected types of user relations. In this context, we leverage the importance of studying the dichotomy between information-producers (contributors) and information-consumers (lurkers), and their interplay over a multilayer network, in order to effectively analyze the different roles a user may take on different OSNs. In particular, here we discuss a solution to the problem of identifying and characterizing opposite behaviors that users may alternately exhibit over the various layers of a complex social network system. We also recognize a number of application domains and tasks that can benefit from using the method discussed, including user engagement, information filtering and propagation for advertising, and targeted marketing campaigns.