Technology to Counter Online Flaming Based on the Frequency-Dependent Damping Coefficient in the Oscillation Model

Abstract: Online social networks, which are remarkably active, often experience explosive user dynamics such as online flaming, which can significantly impact the real world. However, countermeasures based on social analyses of the individuals causing flaming are too slow to be effective because of the rapidity with which the influence of online user dynamics propagates. A countermeasure technology for the flaming phenomena based on the oscillation model, which describes online user dynamics, has been proposed; it is an immediate solution as it does not depend on social analyses of individuals. Conventional countermeasures based on the oscillation model assume that the damping coefficient is a constant regardless of the eigenfrequency. This assumption is, however, problematic as the damping coefficients are, in general, inherently frequency-dependent; the theory underlying the dependence is being elucidated. This paper discusses a design method that uses the damping coefficient to prevent flaming under general conditions considering the frequency-dependence of the damping coefficient and proposes a countermeasure technology for the flaming phenomena.