yearfollowed

Yearfollowed is a metric used in temporal graph analysis to denote the year in which a following relationship between two entities was established. In social networks, information networks, and citation graphs, edges representing follows or subscriptions often carry a temporal attribute; yearfollowed abstracts this attribute to a single year value to support year-by-year analysis while preserving some temporal context.

Representation and data sources: The yearfollowed is typically stored as an integer year on the directed edge from follower to followed. It can be derived from API timestamps, log files, or data exports and may be used alongside more precise timestamps when available. In datasets with incomplete timing information, yearfollowed serves as a coarse-grained temporal marker.

Applications: Analysts use yearfollowed to study network growth, identify periods of rapid adoption, compare influence trajectories across users or topics, and model the evolution of communities over time. It enables simple aggregations such as yearly follower counts, growth rates, or the emergence of new hubs in a network.

Limitations and considerations: Replacing full timestamps with a year reduces precision and may obscure important intra-year dynamics. Missing or inconsistent data can affect analyses, and privacy considerations apply when following data reveal personal behavior. Standardization of how yearfollowed is defined and stored varies across platforms.

Related concepts include temporal graphs, edge timestamps, and follow or subscription graphs used in network analysis.