Towards Trusted Social Networks with Blockchain Technology

Abstract

Large-scale rumor spreading could pose severe social and economic damages. The emergence of online social networks along with the new media can even make rumor spreading more severe. Effective control of rumor spreading is of theoretical and practical significance. This paper takes the first step to understand how the blockchain technology can help limit the spread of rumors. Specifically, we develop a new paradigm for social networks embedded with the blockchain technology, which employs decentralized contracts to motivate trust networks as well as secure information exchange contract. We design a blockchain-based sequential algorithm which utilizes virtual information credits for each peer-to-peer information exchange. We validate the effectiveness of the blockchain-enabled social network on limiting the rumor spreading. Simulation results validate our algorithm design in avoiding rapid and intense rumor spreading, and motivate better mechanism design for trusted social networks.