Triadic evolution in a large-scale mobile phone network

In this paper, we examine the evolution of triadic motifs in a large-scale human communication network. We consider extant models of triadic evolution, emphasizing vertex-, dyadic-, triadic- and higher-level processes in order to generate testable hypotheses of the predictors of both over time triangle survival and triangle emergence from lower-order motifs. We find that the stability and formation of triangles can be predicted by factors operating at multiple levels of analysis, with dyadic processes related to strength and reciprocity and triadic processes associated with coherence in edge-weights having the most predictive power.