Bruch Elizabeth E, Newman M E J
Department of Sociology and Center for the Study of Complex Systems, University of Michigan, and Santa Fe Institute.
Department of Physics and Center for the Study of Complex Systems, University of Michigan, and Santa Fe Institute.
Sociol Sci. 2019;6:219-234. doi: 10.15195/v6.a9. Epub 2019 Apr 2.
We study the structure of heterosexual dating markets in the United States through an analysis of the interactions of several million users of a large online dating website, applying recently developed network analysis methods to the pattern of messages exchanged among users. Our analysis shows that the strongest driver of romantic interaction at the national level is simple geographic proximity, but at the local level, other demographic factors come into play. We find that dating markets in each city are partitioned into submarkets along lines of age and ethnicity. Sex ratio varies widely between submarkets, with younger submarkets having more men and fewer women than older ones. There is also a noticeable tendency for minorities, especially women, to be younger than the average in older submarkets, and our analysis reveals how this kind of racial stratification arises through the messaging decisions of both men and women. Our study illustrates how network techniques applied to online interactions can reveal the aggregate effects of individual behavior on social structure.
我们通过分析一家大型在线约会网站数百万用户的互动情况，运用最近开发的网络分析方法来研究美国异性约会市场的结构，这些方法适用于用户之间交换信息的模式。我们的分析表明，在全国范围内，浪漫互动的最强驱动力是简单的地理接近度，但在地方层面，其他人口因素也会发挥作用。我们发现，每个城市的约会市场都按照年龄和种族划分成子市场。子市场之间的性别比例差异很大，较年轻的子市场男性比女性多，而较年长的子市场则相反。少数族裔，尤其是女性，在较年长的子市场中明显有比平均年龄更年轻的趋势，我们的分析揭示了这种种族分层是如何通过男性和女性双方的信息传递决策产生的。我们的研究说明了应用于在线互动的网络技术如何能够揭示个体行为对社会结构的总体影响。
