Cited by 892Opinion Dynamics and Social InfluenceDecision-Making and Behavioral EconomicsMobile Crowdsensing and Crowdsourcing

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Social Influence Bias: A Randomized Experiment

Muchnik, Lev, Aral, Sinan, Taylor, Sean J.·2013·Science

DOI 10.1126/science.1240466

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Abstract

Follow the Leader?: The Internet has increased the likelihood that our decisions will be influenced by those being made around us. On the one hand, group decision-making can lead to better decisions, but it can also lead to “herding effects” that have resulted in financial disasters. Muchnik et al. (p. 647 ) examined the effect of collective information via a randomized experiment, which involved collaboration with a social news aggregation Web site on which readers could vote and comment on posted comments. Data were collected and analyzed after the Web site administrators arbitrarily voted positively or negatively (or not at all) as the first comment on more than 100,000 posts. False positive entries led to inflated subsequent scores, whereas false negative initial votes had small long-term effects. Both the topic being commented upon and the relationship between the poster and commenter were important. Future efforts will be needed to sort out how to correct for such effects in polls or other collective intelligence systems in order to counter social biases.

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“…online ratings (Gao et al., 2017; Lee et al., 2015; Sunder et al., 2019), online learning (Cai et al., 2020; Wang, Guo, & Sun, 2019b; Wang, Pan, et al., 2019a) and online shopping (Chen et al., 2011; Ding & Li, 2018; Muchnik et al., 2013; Qiu et al., 2018; Tucker & Zhang, 2011; Xu & Liu, 2019).”
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Authors: Muchnik, L., Aral, S., & Taylor, S. J.
Affiliations: Hebrew University of Jerusalem (IL)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
New York University (US)
Corresponding author: Aral, Sinan
ORCID: Muchnik, Lev
Aral, Sinan
Taylor, Sean J.
Venue: Science
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Published: 2013-08-09
Volume: 341
Issue: 6146
Pages: 647-651
ISSN: 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
1095-9203
DOI: 10.1126/science.1240466
OpenAlex: W2063248556
Cited by: 892
References: 65
Citations by year: 2026: 100 · 2025: 60 · 2024: 52 · 2023: 39 · 2022: 60 · 2021: 61 · 2020: 69 · 2019: 72 · 2018: 78 · 2017: 96 · 2016: 74 · 2015: 65 · 2014: 53 · 2013: 12
FWCI: 39.92
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Locations: Science (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics: Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Statistical and Nonlinear Physics › Opinion Dynamics and Social Influence
Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Science Applications › Mobile Crowdsensing and Crowdsourcing
Keywords: herding behavior, online ratings, collective intelligence, collective judgment, decision-making
MeSH terms: Decision Making, Humans, Intelligence, Politics, Public Opinion, Social Environment, Bias, Focus Groups, Internet, Behavior Control, Friends

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Social Influence Bias: A Randomized Experiment

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