The Development of Social Media: Proposal for a Diffusion Model Incorporating Network Externalities in a Competitive Environment

Abstract

The use of social media is highly concentrated. Since the appeal of this type of site lies in the richness of the content produced by the participants, this concentration phenomenon may be partly explained by network externalities. To demonstrate this effect in a competitive framework, the present study puts forward a diffusion model that incorporates the preferential attachment principle stemming from research on complex networks. The model is analyzed through a simulation applied to 51 social media in three different sectors. The results show that adding the attraction effect produced by the relative size of the network explains diffusion better than the classic Bass model.