A Perspective on the Ubiquity of Interaction Streams in Human Realm

Abstract: Typically, for analysing and modelling social phenomena, networks are a convenient framework that allows for the representation of the interconnectivity of individuals. These networks are often considered transmission structures for processes that happen in society, e.g. diffusion of information, epidemics, and spread of influence. However, constructing a network can be challenging, as one needs to choose its type and parameters accurately. As a result, the outcomes of analysing dynamic processes often heavily depend on whether this step was done correctly. In this work, we advocate that it might be more beneficial to step down from the tedious process of building a network and base it on the level of the interactions instead. By taking this perspective, we can be closer to reality, and from the cognitive perspective, human beings are directly exposed to events, not networks. However, we can also draw a parallel to stream data mining, which brings a valuable apparatus for stream processing. Apart from taking the interaction stream perspective as a typical way in which we should study social phenomena, this work advocates that it is possible to map the concepts embodied in human nature and cognitive processes to the ones that occur in interaction streams. Exploiting this mapping can help reduce the diversity of problems that one can find in data stream processing for machine learning problems. Finally, we demonstrate one of the use cases in which the interaction stream perspective can be applied, namely, the social learning process.