Superedge coupling algorithm and its application in coupling mechanism analysis of online public opinion supernetwork

• The public opinion supernetwork model is further developed.
• Superedge coupling algorithm is proposed to study the coupling of online events.
• Different stages of the online incidents coupling mechanism are discovered.
• Transformation from one stage to another on certain conditions is discussed.

Fast developing internet has gradually become the main media port for public opinion. From its evolution, public opinion has been able to voice concerns immediately, adding to the lack of credibility of information being exchanged. The phenomenon has drawn increasing attention from social scientists from around the world. This paper focuses on coupling mechanism of online public opinion events. First, a supernetwork model of online public opinion is built. Then, according to the law of attraction of opinions, a superedge coupling algorithm is proposed. Using this algorithm, we calculate the coupling among several online public opinion events. The result indicates that online opinion cases of similar type of events have a stronger coupling, while cases with opposite psychological types also couple strongly. Besides, online events coupling undergo several different stages, in which the strengths of coupling are quite different.