Paper 159 Details

Title

An open-ended evolution in a web system

Abstract

By using an online photo sharing social network service called RoomClip, new aspects of open-ended evolution (OEE) in a web system are discussed. The reconstruction of a phylogenetic tree with relevant genotype-phenotype mappings is a necessary condition for discussing a Web system as an evolutionary system. By considering a photo as a phenotype and the annotated tags on the photo as genotypes, we found that OEE arises from innovative tags. Herein, we define innovation as the vitality of the service; it is triggered by the emergence of new tags that combine with many other tags. In other words, OEE can emerge as a progressive occurrence of such innovative tags. Based on our findings, we discuss the importance of genotype-phenotype mapping in deriving OEE.

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