The invention relates to an online
social network multisource point information tracing
system and a method thereof. The method comprises the following steps: arranging a part of observation nodes in a network so as to acquire the range that messages are transmitted in the network and the moments that the messages are received, namely, mapping the timeliness and the spatiality of observation nodes that messages are received for multiple times into a
network structure firstly, primarily confirming a source point range, and confirming a source point alternative set and a time
delay alternative set by using a restart random walk
algorithm; converting a positioning problem into a clustering problem by virtue of similarity of source points and single observation nodes in the alternative set in terms of time and space, designing a clustering
algorithm based on
affinity propagation learning, finding the optimal
representative point set, and confirming the number and the positions of the source points. By adopting the online
social network multisource point information tracing
system and the method thereof, the nodes are sufficiently utilized to receive time dimension information of the messages, under the condition that the state information of all user nodes in the network is not acquired, the number and the positions of propagation source points can be relatively accurately confirmed, harmful
information propagation can be effectively controlled, and
social harmony and stability can be maintained.