Many interesting real-world systems are represented as complex networks with multiple types of interactions and complicated dependency structures between layers. These interactions can be encoded as having a valence with positive links marking interactions such as trust and friendship and negative links denoting distrust or hostility. Extracting information from these negative interactions is challenging since standard topological metrics are often poor predictors of negative link formation, particularly across network layers. In this paper, we introduce a method based on mutual information which enables us to predict both negative and positive relationships. Our experiments show that SMLP (Signed Multiplex Link Prediction) can leverage negative relationship layers in multiplex networks to improve link prediction performance.
This paper reports on the development of social network analysis, tracing its origins in classical sociology and its more recent formulation in social scientific and mathematical work. It is argued that the concept of social network provides a powerful model for social structure, and that a number of important formal methods of social network analysis can be discerned. Social network analysis has been used in studies of kinship structure, social mobility, science citations, contacts among members of deviant groups, corporate power, international trade exploitation, class structure, and many other areas. A review of the formal models proposed in graph theory, multidimensional scaling, and algebraic topology is followed by extended illustrations of social network analysis in the study of community structure and interlocking directorships. Complex networks have been receiving increasing attention by the scientific community, also due to the availability of massive network data from diverse domains. One problem largely studied so far is Link Prediction, i.e. the problem of predicting new upcoming connections in the network. However, one aspect of complex networks has been disregarded so far: real networks are often multidimensional, i.e. multiple connections may reside between any two nodes. In this context, we define the problem of Multidimensional Link Prediction, and we introduce several predictors based on structural analysis of the networks. We present the results obtained on real networks, showing the performances of both the introduced multidimensional versions of the Common Neighbors and Adamic-Adar, and the derived predictors aimed at capturing the multidimensional and temporal information extracted from the data. Our findings show that the evolution of multidimensional networks can be predicted, and that supervised models may improve the accuracy of underlying unsupervised predictors, if used in conjunction with them. Online social systems are multiplex in nature as multiple links may exist between the same two users across different social networks. In this work, we introduce a framework for studying links and interactions between users beyond the individual social network. Exploring the cross-section of two popular online platforms - Twitter and location-based social network Foursquare - we represent the two together as a composite multilayer online social network. Through this paradigm we study the interactions of pairs of users differentiating between those with links on one or both networks. We find that users with multiplex links, who are connected on both networks, interact more and have greater neighbourhood overlap on both platforms, in comparison with pairs who are connected on just one of the social networks. In particular, the most frequented locations of users are considerably closer, and similarity is considerably greater among multiplex links. We present a number of structural and interaction features, such as the multilayer Adamic Adar coefficient, which are based on the extension of the concept of the node neighbourhood beyond the single network. Our evaluation, which aims to shed light on the implications of multiplexity for the link generation process, shows that multilayer features, constructed from properties across social networks, perform better than their single network counterparts in predicting links across networks. We propose that combining information from multiple networks in a multilayer configuration can provide new insights into user interactions on online social networks, and can significantly improve link prediction overall with valuable applications to social bootstrapping and friend recommendations.