Ruan, Yefeng, et al. "Exploring trust propagation behaviors in online communities." 2014 17th International Conference on Network-Based Information Systems. IEEE, 2014.

This paper explores the crucial role of trust in the dynamics of online communities, such as Amazon, Epinions, Facebook, and Twitter, where it significantly influences user interactions. With the growth of online social networking, establishing trust among users has become increasingly vital. However, a notable challenge is the sparsity of explicit trust links relative to the potential connections among users. To mitigate this issue, the study discusses the application of trust propagation techniques, which infer trust relationships based on available data. Furthermore, it delves into the analysis of user behavior patterns in online communities, employing two sociological theories: balance theory and status theory. These theories are tested and examined within the context of two real-world datasets from Epinions.com and Twitter, utilizing trust management systems to understand their applicability and effectiveness in online trust dynamics.