Prestige bias drives the viral spread of content reposted by influencers in online communities

Prestige bias drives the viral spread of content reposted by influencers in online communities | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Prestige bias drives the viral spread of content reposted by influencers in online communities Takuro Niitsuma, Mitsuo Yoshida, Hideaki Tamori, Yo Nakawake This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5620691/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 01 May, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted 6 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Cultural evolution theory suggests that prestige bias—whereby individuals preferentially learn from prestigious figures—has played a key role in human ecological success. However, its impact within online environments remains unclear, particularly with respect to whether reposts by prestigious individuals amplify diffusion more effectively than reposts by noninfluential users. We analyzed over 55 million posts and 520 million reposts on Twitter (currently X) to examine whether users with high influence scores (hg indices) more effectively amplified the reach of others' content. Our findings indicate that posts shared by influencers are more likely to be further shared than those shared by non-influencers. This effect persisted over time, especially in viral posts. Moreover, a small group of highly influential users accounted for approximately half of the information flow within repost cascades. These findings demonstrate a prestige bias in information diffusion within the digital society, suggesting that cognitive biases shape content spread through reposting. Biological sciences/Evolution/Cultural evolution Physical sciences/Physics/Statistical physics thermodynamics and nonlinear dynamics/Complex networks influencer information diffusion prestige bias social network cultural evolution Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files supplement.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 01 May, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Accepted 15 Apr, 2025 Reviews received at journal 07 Apr, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 28 Mar, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 28 Mar, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 28 Mar, 2025 First submitted to journal 27 Mar, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5620691","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":435410585,"identity":"fd155ae9-ab73-4a7d-bb0e-32286571ea59","order_by":0,"name":"Takuro Niitsuma","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA0UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACZsYGGOsAkDjAQ4yWRogeNrYEIrUwMECtYeMxAGkhrN6cnbn94c+2bfIM8j0fP/6ouSPDwH746AZ8WiybGRubedtuGzaw8W6W5jn2jIeBJy3tBj4tBoeBWhjbbjPuP8a7QZqB7TAPgwSPGUEtjT/bbts3sPE8/vnjH5FaGoAOSwRqYZPgbSNSy2yec7eTG9jSzKx5+w7zsBH0y/njDz7+KLtt28B8+PHNH98O2/OzHz6GVwsmYCNN+SgYBaNgFIwCbAAAUflKKn6ZI3oAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Media R\u0026D Center, The Asahi Shimbun Company","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Takuro","middleName":"","lastName":"Niitsuma","suffix":""},{"id":435410586,"identity":"4d5b71d4-d2ae-4dc2-8fa2-72060a3b01b8","order_by":1,"name":"Mitsuo Yoshida","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Tsukuba","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mitsuo","middleName":"","lastName":"Yoshida","suffix":""},{"id":435410587,"identity":"3734894d-b8b9-4d06-9a86-96e91e5d9e56","order_by":2,"name":"Hideaki Tamori","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Media R\u0026D Center, The Asahi Shimbun Company","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hideaki","middleName":"","lastName":"Tamori","suffix":""},{"id":435410590,"identity":"538b5c5d-d8c0-4468-984f-52e402ab22b4","order_by":3,"name":"Yo Nakawake","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Graduate School of Advanced Science and Technology, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yo","middleName":"","lastName":"Nakawake","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-12-11 03:53:27","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5620691/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5620691/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-98955-4","type":"published","date":"2025-05-01T15:56:53+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":81987387,"identity":"044c4131-7745-4d88-a4fc-2ae82334b836","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-05-05 15:59:43","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1902744,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"20250327SciRepsubmittex.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5620691/v1_covered_cdc929e1-486f-49c4-81f8-796392aaaa13.pdf"},{"id":79612531,"identity":"f87f3f22-923b-457f-a35a-cce5c1bd7ded","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-03-31 18:03:06","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":1718243,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"supplement.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5620691/v1/41b772816a83dcdbb7669a1b.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Prestige bias drives the viral spread of content reposted by influencers in online communities","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"influencer, information diffusion, prestige bias, social network, cultural evolution","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5620691/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5620691/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Cultural evolution theory suggests that prestige bias—whereby individuals preferentially learn from prestigious figures—has played a key role in human ecological success. However, its impact within online environments remains unclear, particularly with respect to whether reposts by prestigious individuals amplify diffusion more effectively than reposts by noninfluential users. We analyzed over 55 million posts and 520 million reposts on Twitter (currently X) to examine whether users with high influence scores (hg indices) more effectively amplified the reach of others' content. Our findings indicate that posts shared by influencers are more likely to be further shared than those shared by non-influencers. This effect persisted over time, especially in viral posts. Moreover, a small group of highly influential users accounted for approximately half of the information flow within repost cascades. These findings demonstrate a prestige bias in information diffusion within the digital society, suggesting that cognitive biases shape content spread through reposting.","manuscriptTitle":"Prestige bias drives the viral spread of content reposted by influencers in online communities","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-03-31 17:55:01","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5620691/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Accepted","date":"2025-04-16T03:15:45+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-04-07T15:34:26+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"49470075206717108971026519078912390268","date":"2025-03-28T14:24:51+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-03-28T14:12:58+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-03-28T05:04:24+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Scientific Reports","date":"2025-03-27T07:48:15+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"db99c613-5acb-4ae6-bc40-f81cb9f7ae17","owner":[],"postedDate":"March 31st, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[{"id":46365528,"name":"Biological sciences/Evolution/Cultural evolution"},{"id":46365529,"name":"Physical sciences/Physics/Statistical physics thermodynamics and nonlinear dynamics/Complex networks"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-05-05T15:58:02+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-5620691","link":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-98955-4","journal":{"identity":"scientific-reports","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Scientific Reports"},"publishedOn":"2025-05-01 15:56:53","publishedOnDateReadable":"May 1st, 2025"},"versionCreatedAt":"2025-03-31 17:55:01","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1038/s41598-025-98955-4","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-98955-4","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-5620691","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-5620691","identity":"rs-5620691","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}