A research of public opinion on a small world network

Public opinion plays an important role in human society. With the development of Internet technology, the formation of public opinion on the Internet has become a hot research topic. In this paper, a more realistic opinion model in the frame of bounded confidence model is built on a complex network with a small-world character. Different to the former opinion models, minimal difference d₁ is introduced. The result shows it largely changes the function form of the evolution of opinion against the confidence interval ΔD. The relationship between the number of the ultimate existing opinions n_s and the convergence parameter and the threshold value of individual opinion extent are also investigated. The threshold value of individual opinion extent causes a minimal number of ultimate existing opinions appear in the medium value of ΔD. The result is robust to the different distribution of attitude even when attitude updates with opinions.