Finding strong ties

Currently, our hero network simply measures whether two characters are connected. This computation is simple; do they appear in the same comic book together? We assume that in the small temporal space of a comic book, even cameos mean that the characters have interacted with each other. However, this does not tell us who the most important relations for a particular character are.

In order to determine the most important folks in an ego network (or to determine relative affinity between two actors), we need to determine edge weights. Since edges represent interaction, affiliation, or social relations, adding a weight determines the distance between two actors, relative to other actors with similar connections. Proxies for edge weights in social networks include:

• Frequency, for example, how often two actors communicate
• Reciprocity, for example, whether or not the relationship is reciprocal
• Type or attributes, for example, married actors have a stronger tie than college roommates...