On the evolution of social groups during coffee breaks

Martin Atzmueller, Andreas Ernst, Friedrich Krebs, Christoph Scholz, Gerd Stumme

Abstract: This paper focuses on the analysis of group evolution events in networks of face-to-face proximity. First, we analyze statistical properties of group evolution, e.g., individual activity and typical group sizes. Furthermore, we define a set of specific group evolution events. We analyze these using real-world data collected at the LWA 2010 conference using the Conferator system, and discuss patterns according to different phases of the conference.