Analysis of Interpersonal Relationships of Social Network Users Using Explainable Artificial Intelligence Methods

Abstract

The emergence of the social networking phenomenon and the sudden spread of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) around the world have significantly affected the transformation of the system of interpersonal relations, partly shifting them towards virtual reality. Online social networks have greatly expanded the boundaries of human interpersonal interaction and initiated processes of integration of different cultures. As a result, research into the possibilities of predicting human behavior through the characteristics of virtual communication in social networks has become more relevant. The aim of the study is: to explore the possibilities of machine learning model interpretability methods for interpreting the success of social network users based on their profile data. This paper uses a specific method of explainable artificial intelligence, SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations), to analyze and interpret trained machine learning models. The research is based on Social Network Analysis (SNA), a modern line of research conducted to understand different aspects of the social network as a whole as well as its individual nodes (users). User accounts on social networks provide detailed information that characterizes a user's personality, interests, and hobbies and reflects their current status. Characteristics of a personal profile also make it possible to identify social graphs - mathematical models reflecting the characteristics of interpersonal relationships of social network users. An important tool for social network analysis is various machine learning algorithms that make different predictions based on sets of characteristics (social network data). However, most of today's powerful machine learning methods are "black boxes," and therefore the challenge of interpreting and explaining their results arises. The study trained RandomForestClassifier and XGBClassifier models and showed the nature and degree of influence of the personal profile metrics of VKontakte social network users and indicators of their interpersonal relationship characteristics (graph metrics).