"Personal Influence" and Influencer Logic. A theoretical and methodological comparison

In the digital age there are ever more areas in which the footprints and the traces we leave (voluntarily and not) take on particular relevance for the use that may be made of them. This is closely related to the theme of networks and specifically the reconstruction of networks generated by the use of social media. For this purpose, the footprints that each person leaves behind are especially relevant, since from them it is possible to reconstruct the bonds and identify the strategic nodes. Further, one of the most widely diffused analysis tools with the massive extension of social media is the sentiment analysis (SA), which is now being studied both academically and commercially. Specifically, it consists in extracting from the web platforms the expression of users’ judgments and in the computational analysis of feelings and opinions expressed within the network through the interactions established between users. SA is, on one hand, a popular tool; on the other hand, the methodological robustness of this type of analysis is often questioned, especially when compared to traditional (textual and not only) analysis tools and techniques, such as surveys (by telephone) and focus groups. The issue has recently been discussed by the relevant literature and it was highlighted how the two perspectives (traditional and modern), instead of being opposed, can be used in an integrated way. In this context, an additional element of interest is the comparison between the scenario offered by the analysis of digital footprints using the above mentioned network analysis and sentiment analysis and the well-known two-step flow communication theory of Paul Lazarsfeld and Elihu Katz; it deals with the social influence that the media indirectly exercise on the population, passing through the personal influence of the opinion leaders. From this comparison, what one wonders about is whether what is happening in the context of the analysis of big data provided by the widespread diffusion of digital footprints is able to add some innovation element compared to what has already been highlighted by the« two-step flow of communication theory», or if it merely represents its explanation. Is something happening that Katz and Lazarsfeld had predicted? Or do network and sentiment analysis even contrast or contradict the two authors?