Understanding User Triads on Facebook

Contemporary approaches that analyze user behavior on online social networks only consider interactions among dyads, which are pairs of directly connected users. A large body of sociological work, however, suggests that mutual connections among users can influence their activities, leading to differences between two- and three-way interactions. This paper explores the dynamics of triads among Facebook users based on the wall posts from the New Orleans regional network. Initially, each connection is categorized as a close friendship or an acquiantance, contingent on the number of wall posts exchanged. Subsequently, the impact of different types of connections comprising triads is examined on the post volume and inter-post times. The analysis finds that these two properties are influenced by the number of close friendships constituting triads.