Evolution of Trust and Formation of Preference Clusters in Distributed Networked Structure

Abstract

Distributed network researchers are trying to address one important issue concerning networked structures and how the network came into existence, i.e., dynamics of network evolution. From the knowledge of social science it is observed that trust is one such metric that evolves with the network particularly where human interaction is involved. This work presents a “trust” model of the authors’ studies and its various properties. In virtual (and “real”) communities (chat rooms, blogs, etc.) behavioral segregation over time is observed. Differences in identities of interacting agents result in evolution of various degrees of “trust” (and “distrust”) among them over a period of time. This process ultimately leads to emergence of self-segregation in behavioral kinetics and results in formation of preference clusters.