Analysis and Implications of the Giant Component for an Online Interactive Platform

Abstract

This research is concerned with practical and research challenges related to understanding the nature of online interactive platforms. So-called network science is adopted to investigate the very nature of these systems as complex systems. In this regard, we examine an online interactive health network and show that the interactive platform examined exhibits essential structural properties that characterize most real complex networks. We basically look into the largest connected component, so-called a giant component (GC), to better understand how the representative network has established. In particular, we apply dynamic network analysis to investigate how the GC has evolved over time. We identify a particular pattern towards emerging a GC. Implications of the patterns have been elaborated from a management perspective. We recommend that the basic stages of the emergence of the GC might be of interest to platform managers while evaluating performance of online platforms.