Digital Social Networks and Travel Behaviour in Urban Environments Chapter 3

BOOK abstract: This book brings together conceptual and empirical insights to explore the interconnections between social networks based on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and travel behaviour in urban environments. Over the past decade, rapid development of ICT has led to extensive social impacts and influence on travel and mobility patterns within urban spaces. A new field of research of digital social networks and travel behaviour is now emerging. This book presents state-of-the-art knowledge, cutting-edge research and integrated analysis methods from the fields of social networks, travel behaviour and urban analysis. It explores the challenges related to the question of how we can synchronize among social networks activities, transport means, intelligent communication/information technologies and the urban form. This innovative book encourages multidisciplinary insights and fusion among three disciplines of social networks, travel behaviour and urban analysis. It offers new horizons for research and will be of interest to students and scholars studying mobilities, transport studies, urban geography, urban planning, the built environment and urban policy. ABSTRACT Chapter : Our opinions and beliefs are increasingly affected by social media. Within a network, opinions possibly drive community/ies towards essential choices.We analyze how to model the dynamic process of updating opinions based on the opinions of neighbours and, indirectly, on other individual opinions. We will consider the case of attention to the neighbour behaviour that is invariant over time and the (methodologically) harder case in which attention towards others changes according to unexpected events that may occur. Also, opinion dynamics, investigating the fusion process of the opinion formation, is a powerful tool for supporting the management of public opinion. We will focus on opinion formation among individuals and the resulting dynamics it induces in a social network. After a review of state of the art, the necessary and sufficient tools for building an own model are illustrated. Several applications and in particular related to transportation and mobility conclude the chapter.