FractalDimensionOfaHypertextSpace

Last edit September 19, 2014
The crux of my (BillSeitz) preference for WordsSmashedTogetherLikeSo over the FreeLink approach to AutomaticLinkGeneration in a WiKi is that I believe it increases the "bushiness" of the space. In 1997 LeoEgghe (LEgghe) wrote an article on the "FractalAndInformetricAspectsOfHypertextSystems". http://www.google.com/webhp?q=%22fractal+and+informetric+aspects+of+hypertext+systems%22#q=%22fractal+and+informetric+aspects+of+hypertext+systems%22&safe=off

In the paper he defines the FractalDimension of a HyperText based on the number of (internal) links it includes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractal_dimension
  • let `n` denote the total number of pages, and
  • `m` the average number of "HLs" (hypertext links) per page
  • I'm pretty sure that that count should be only
    • count only explicit WikiName references, not automatic BackLinks.
    • unique cases of a link on a given page (so if a `Page A` has 3 separate links to `Page B` in it (which happens in a wiki when you use the same WikiName multiple times in a page), then it should only count as 1 for that page)
    • links to pages that actually already exist (vs the WiKi case of a link to create-a-page-with-that-name)
  • the fractal dimension `D = ln(n) / [ln(n) + ln((1+m) / m)]`
  • PyThon: `fractal_dimension = log(num_pages)/(log(num_pages) + log((1 + avg_frontlinks) / avg_frontlinks))`

Examples at: http://webseitz.fluxent.com/wiki/FractalDimensionOfAHypertextSpace