Reduce empty space in ggnet2 network plot

Question

I'm plotting the network graph pictured below using R and GGally::ggnet2.

You can see that there are several independent clusters disconnected from each other and these are quite spread out leaving a lot of empty space on the figure. Is it possible to make these clusters closer to each other thus making better use of the space?

Code to reproduce:

# Get datafile
wget https://www.dropbox.com/s/h4kt2fw1j4hdw3a/matrix.tsv

R
library(GGally)
library(network)

mat <- read.table('matrix.tsv')
net <- network(mat)
ggnet2(net, size= 1)

Answer 1

Trying different layouts might prove effective:

library(GGally)
library(network)

ggnet2(net,
       size= 1,
       mode = "kamadakawai")

or you can experiment with the parameters of a specific layout using the layout.par argument

ggnet2(net,
       size= 1,
       mode = "fruchtermanreingold",
       layout.par = list(repulse.rad = 100,
                         area = 1000))

for a complete list of options see ?sna::gplot.layout

Too find a pleasing layout you will need to experiment a bit with the options since they depend on the graph. To cite a part of the help ?sna::gplot.layout:

Vertex layouts for network visualization pose a difficult problem – there is no single, “good” layout algorithm, and many different approaches may be valuable under different circumstances.

set.seed(1234)
ggnet2(net,
       size= 1,
       mode = "fruchtermanreingold",
       layout.par = list(repulse.rad = 300,
                         area = 1200))

Another option is using visNetwork and after finding a good initial layout manually moving some vertices