(DEPSCOR-RESEARCH COLLABORATION-FY21) BUILDING A COMPUTATIONAL MODEL OF MOBS LEVERAGING SOCIAL SCIENCE THEORIES
Abstract
A mob is an event that is organized via social media or other forms of digital communication technologies in which a group of people (who might have an agenda) get together online or offline (or both) to collectively conduct an act and then disperse. Recently, mob-like events are becoming widespread, globally, due to the affordability of social media, ease of use, effectiveness of individuals or groups in conducting coordinated acts, anonymity of the internet, and various other factors. However, this topic is heavily understudied. Studying mobs is challenging due to the lack of data, theoretical underpinning, and computational resources. The proposed project aims to develop a model that can simulate mobs guided by constructs extracted from various social science theories. The project will then use the model to study the behavior of the mobbers, the motivations of their organizers, and be able to predict mobs success or failure. Real-world data, albeit limited, will be used to evaluate the simulation-driven model in real-world setting. The project seeks answers to the following research questions: (1) Which social science theories can provide rigorous grounding to model mobs? (2) Which factors found in the social science literature can help us better understand the mob phenomenon? (3) Given a set of factors, how can we develop a model with predictive capabilities? Findings from this research will be used to build tools that could assist the U.S. DoD in gaining situational awareness and prepare for strategic intervention with mobs that could take a violent turn during military exercises; humanitarian crises and disaster relief operations; or around military bases. This project will result in three major deliverables: (1) a model that can simulate mobs to answer questions about mob s outcome and mobbers behavior, (2) peer-reviewed articles, and (3) an online tool that implements the model.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Apr 20, 2023
- Source ID
- FA95502210332
Entities
People
- Samer Al-khateeb
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Creighton University
- Office of the Secretary of Defense