# Identification of Opinion Leaders and Followers--A Case Study of Green Energy and Low Carbons
## Methodology
### Opinion Leaders and Followers' Social Patterns  
Six axioms are proposed to classify opinion leaders, influencers, followers and interaction patterns. Notations are presented in Table 2. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & & \multicolumn{4}{c}{**Social Status**} & \\ \cline{3-8}  & & – & **General +** & & & \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{Professional knowledge} & Wrong knowledge & NI & NI & NI & Low social & \\  & & & & & community support & \\  & & & & & Low social & Social community \\  & & & & & community support & Support \\  & & & & & Low social & \\  & & & & & community support & \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{Professional knowledge} & Wrong knowledge & NI & NI & GI & Neutral social & \\  & & & & & community support & \\  & & & & & Neutral social & Social community \\  & & & & & community support & Support \\  & & & & & Neutral social & \\  & & & & & community support & \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{Professional knowledge} & Wrong knowledge & NI & GI & HI & High social & \\  & & & & & community support & \\  & & & & & High social & \\  & & & & & community support & \\  & & & & & High social & \\  & & & & & community support & \\  & & & & & High social & \\  & & & & & community support & \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Influence power table (NI: No Influence, GI: General Influence, HI: High Influence. ). \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline \hline \multicolumn{4}{c}{**Notations:**} \\ \hline \hline \(N_{\textit{sp}}\) : The total number of responses in matrix \(T\). \\ \(\overline{N}_{\textit{sp}}\) : The average total number of responses in matrix \(T\). \\ \(N_{g}\) : The total number of members that respond in group \(g\). \\ \(\overline{N}_{g}\) : The average total number of members’ responses in group \(g\). \\ \(T(US_{i})\) : The number of \(\textit{user}_{i}^{\prime}s\) posts, the total counts of \(\textit{column}_{i}\) in matrix \(g\). \\ \(T(UR_{i})\) : The number of \(\textit{user}_{i}^{\prime}s\) responses, the total counts of \(\textit{row}_{i}\) in matrix \(T\). \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: Notations table. The axioms formulated by the systematic rolling analysis of big data over the years. Experts determine the criteria and select thresholds for them, for example, the positive or negative degree of the counts of responses to and responded to. The following axioms are proposed to recognize opinion leaders, influencers, and followers. Axiom1--Opinion leader. If \(\overline{N}_{\textit{rep}}<\textit{UR}_{i}\) and \(\textit{UR}_{i}>2\times\overline{N}_{g}\) and \(\textit{UNI}<1/2\times N_{g}\), then the \(\textit{user}_{i}\) is an opinion leader. To be an opinion leader, \(\textit{user}_{i}\)'s (\(\textit{UR}_{i}\)) response total must be higher than the average total response (\(\overline{N}_{\textit{rep}}\)), and \(\textit{user}_{i}\) must have more than twice the number of responses in the group (\(\overline{N}_{g}\)). Moreover, \(\textit{user}_{i}^{\prime}\textit{s}\)\(\textit{NI}\) speech and the count in matrix \(T(\textit{US}_{i})\) less than 1 cannot be more than half of the total number of members' responses in group \(g\). Axiom 2--Influencer. If \(\overline{N}_{g}<\textit{UR}_{i}<2\times\overline{N}_{g}\) and \(\textit{UNI}<N_{g}\), then \(\textit{user}_{i}\) is an influencer. If the \(\textit{user}_{i}^{\prime}\textit{s}\) responses (\(\textit{UR}_{i}\)) are more than the average number of total responses in the group and lower than twice the average number of total responses in the group. Moreover, \(\textit{user}_{i}^{\prime}\textit{s}\) speech which is NI and the count in matrix \(T(\textit{US}_{i})\) which is less than 1 cannot more than the number of the member which is in the group. Influencers also have the power to influence others and have the potential to become opinion leaders. Hence, this study also offers a way to find influencers. Axiom 3--Followers. If \(\textit{UR}_{i}>0\), then the user is a follower.