The Flow of Influence From Two-Step to Network Perspectives

Introduction

Computational methods facilitate the review of existing theories and the development of new ones by applying methods from different disciplines in studies in the fields of social sciences. This situation has triggered the tendency of researchers to review the theories that come to the fore in the scientific field and examine them from different dimensions. This trend has also affected theories of great importance in the communication field, such as agenda-setting, the two-step flow of communication model, and the diffusion of innovations that were re-examined by computational methods. The studies on the two-step flow model of influence are one of the most important of this approach. The model was developed by Pual Lazarsfeld, Elihu Katz, and colleagues (E. Katz & Lazarsfeld, 1955; Lazarsfeld et al., 1968) in the 1940s and 1950s. The model formulated a breakthrough theory of public opinion formation under the growing effect of media on the decision-making process. According to the model, the decision-making process, which can range from political to personal subjects, may be influenced more by exposure to each other than the media.

It is not enough to explain the development of this trend by the mere introduction of computational methods into communication studies. The digitalization of communication processes, environments, and social ties, which form the basis of communication studies, is another crucial factor. Through digital networks, the realization of social life and communication, which is its natural extension, has created an infrastructure that allows the message to circulate rapidly around the world, shortened the social distance between individuals, and created digital traces that will enable detailed monitoring of all processes (González-Bailón, 2017). These network structures have mainly solved the inability to participate in analyzing the effect of the social environment on the individual, which is one of the central problematics of communication studies since they are the social living spaces of individuals. Thus, it has become possible to systematically and geographically monitor the processes that make it possible to mobilize many individuals to act in a certain way, such as the effect and spread of contagion, which can cause changes in the behavior and attitudes of individuals.

The effect of digital networks on social life and communication processes has made the phenomenon known as the small-world effect more visible and measurable. In general, the small-world effect is used to describe the effect of technological developments on distance and to explain this effect through the network structure (Boettcher et al., 2008; Hautz et al., 2016; Milgram, 1967; Travers & Milgram, 1969; Watts, 1999; Watts & Dodds, 2007). Individuals are connected by the network structure created by communication tools in this world. The number of connections and intermediaries that provide access from one individual to another is considerably small. The outcome of this situation, supported by the results of many studies carried out on different social media platforms, is that individuals can access each other through shortcuts within global network structures, and these ways can be determined to a large extent.

The general spread of knowledge and behavior from person to a person effectively forms collective behaviors such as epidemics, rumors, and social movements, which can be considered events in which an individual acts under the influence. In this process, some individuals act as diffusers and initiate or maintain the dissemination of content, thought, or action. Some individuals only act under the influence and assimilate this content, thought, or action. This sort of contagion could only be channeled by communication-a channel for influence that is strengthened every time new technologies arise (e.g., the telegraph, the Internet) (González-Bailón, 2017, p. 74).