MEASURE OF MUTUAL INFLUENCE AMONG MEMBERS OF A SOCIAL NETWORK

Among the factors that determine an individual's learning of new skills within a common interest group (in the local society) are: the strength of the character of the individual to be influenced by other members of the group or other groups and the individual's motivation. The first one of these two factors is analyzed here. To measure the influence that some members of a group have over others, and the individual's level of conformism, we use a semantical-logical analysis with quantitative output in the messages of a forum which contains a discussion about problems and innovations. We use a cluster analysis technique to find similarities and discrepancies among the members of the forum and classify them in this manner, revealing which of them are leaders and have influence over the others.