2026-01-23 05:04:35

I studied network analysis during my graduate school days, and only now do I truly understand the essence of memes—simply put, it's a game of attention economy.

In the crypto community, whether it's top developers, exchange executives, or ordinary retail investors, everyone is just a node in the information dissemination network. What's the difference? It lies in their respective "weight"—some nodes have great influence and can trigger chain reactions; others remain unnoticed, and their information dissipates halfway through.

From a network analysis perspective, the spread of memes is a constant battle between the "centrality" and "connectivity" of various nodes. Who starts the trend, how far it can spread, and ultimately who becomes the winner—all follow the immutable laws of network topology. So rather than saying memes are a cultural phenomenon, it's more accurate to say they are the patterns of attention flow on the network.

View Original

This page may contain third-party content, which is provided for information purposes only (not representations/warranties) and should not be considered as an endorsement of its views by Gate, nor as financial or professional advice. See Disclaimer for details.

19 Likes

Reward
19
6
Repost
Share

Comment

0/400

GasFeePhobia

· 01-26 01:14

This is the true core; don't be fooled by flashy cultural packaging. At the end of the day, it's a game of influence. Well said. We retail investors are just passive nodes receiving information; the hype is never in our hands. Haha, so some coins are so easily cut because the discourse power is in the hands of the whales. Deeply, from this perspective, memes are truly enlightening. Much more clear-headed than just trading coins. Thinking about it this way, I realize many of my previous operations were too naive; I didn't understand this logic at all. By the way, being a node is really difficult. How can ordinary people improve their centrality? Build a big account? Exactly, exactly. Meme culture is just attention monetization. Grasp this point, and you won't be fooled. Graduate-level understanding is indeed different. Most of us are just passive screen-scrolling machines. This network topology theory is brilliant in the crypto world. It instantly exposes those illusory hot spots. To put it simply, whoever controls the dissemination nodes is the winner. Ordinary people, don't even bother dreaming.

View OriginalReply0

DataPickledFish

· 01-25 20:52

That's right, but do you know? The real winners are those who know how to create "node jumps," gradually turning small retail investors into central nodes, and then harvesting the profits... This game is played too ruthlessly.

View OriginalReply0

MevSandwich

· 01-23 05:27

Damn, this analysis is spot on. So, are we all being played? Weight determines life or death, bro.

View OriginalReply0

RamenStacker

· 01-23 05:26

Damn, you make some sense... Turns out we've all been just nodes manipulated by the algorithm.

View OriginalReply0

BlockchainArchaeologist

· 01-23 05:09

That's right, it's just a game of weighting. No wonder my posts always fail to transmit. Thinking about it this way, retail investors are really just passive nodes, and the right to speak is completely monopolized by exchanges and big V influencers. The iron law of network topology sounds intimidating but it really hits the mark; meme hype is exactly like this.

View OriginalReply0

PaperHandsCriminal

· 01-23 05:06

It's nice to call it network topology; if you want to be blunt, it's whoever has the loudest voice wins. I'm just that node where the information dissipates halfway through...

View OriginalReply0