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. 2020 May 22;15(5):e0233276.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0233276. eCollection 2020.

Distinctiveness centrality in social networks

Andrea Fronzetti Colladon  1 , Maurizio Naldi  2   3
Affiliations

Distinctiveness centrality in social networks

Andrea Fronzetti Colladon et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

The determination of node centrality is a fundamental topic in social network studies. As an addition to established metrics, which identify central nodes based on their brokerage power, the number and weight of their connections, and the ability to quickly reach all other nodes, we introduce five new measures of Distinctiveness Centrality. These new metrics attribute a higher score to nodes keeping a connection with the network periphery. They penalize links to highly-connected nodes and serve the identification of social actors with more distinctive network ties. We discuss some possible applications and properties of these newly introduced metrics, such as their upper and lower bounds. Distinctiveness centrality provides a viewpoint of centrality alternative to that of established metrics.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Toy network.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Spearman’s correlation plots of DC with degree, closeness and betweenness.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Spearman’s correlation plots of DC with eigenvector centrality, constraint and effective size.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Directed toy network.
Fig 5
Fig 5. Florentine families in the 15th century, with colour and size according to D1 (α = 1).
Fig 6
Fig 6. Zachary’s karate club network.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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