Identification of groups in online environments: The twist and turns of grouping groups

Iftekhar Ahmed, Channing Brown, Andrew Pilny, Dora Cai, Yannick Atouba Ada, Marshall Scott Poole

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

This study describes an approach to track groups over time as they participate in larger networks of groups. Groups were tracked in a Massive Multi-Player Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG), a context typical of many online venues and similar to some situations in the real world. Based on social scientific theories the study identified possible avenues to detect groups, explored game logs to identify relevant variables for group detection, and developed an algorithm to detect groups from individual level data. This study demonstrates that it is possible to identify groups in MMORPG environments using available individual level data. The study has also captured some group dynamics that corresponds to existing real world examples, including changes in groups over time and development of larger groups through unification of smaller groups.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationProceedings - 2011 IEEE International Conference on Privacy, Security, Risk and Trust and IEEE International Conference on Social Computing, PASSAT/SocialCom 2011
Pages629-632
Number of pages4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2011
Event2011 IEEE International Conference on Privacy, Security, Risk and Trust, PASSAT 2011 and 2011 IEEE International Conference on Social Computing, SocialCom 2011 - Boston, MA, United States
Duration: Oct 9 2011Oct 11 2011

Publication series

NameProceedings - 2011 IEEE International Conference on Privacy, Security, Risk and Trust and IEEE International Conference on Social Computing, PASSAT/SocialCom 2011

Other

Other2011 IEEE International Conference on Privacy, Security, Risk and Trust, PASSAT 2011 and 2011 IEEE International Conference on Social Computing, SocialCom 2011
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityBoston, MA
Period10/9/1110/11/11

Keywords

  • Algorithm development
  • Data mining
  • Group detection
  • Group identification
  • Grouping characteristics
  • MMORPG

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Hardware and Architecture
  • Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality

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