The Spread of Rumors in Social Networks
As a tribute to high school drama and social anxieties, this research paper (https://hpi.de/friedrich/docs/paper/CACM1.pdf) evaluates why and how rumors spread so quickly, especially in light of the revolutionary way social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter have transformed the methods by which information is disseminated. In this experiment, nodes were individuals, and the edge connecting them was whether these individuals regularly exchanged information with each other. Using mathematical analyses and interpretations of the mapped networks, the researchers discovered that the spread of rumors is facilitated by social networks and how within these networks there is a combination of individuals who have many contacts and individuals with few contacts. Most surprisingly, the findings showed that it was in fact the nodes with few adjacent nodes — the individuals who talked to less people — that were most crucial to the spread of information.
Based on what has been discussed in this course, this finding actually makes sense. Similar to the idea that most important information about jobs is heard through weak relationships, it follows that new social information is also more likely to come through these individuals with few contacts. The relationships with these individuals serve as local bridges, allowing new information to be passed from one close-knit friend group to another friend group. Moreo ver, because of these local bridges, the social network is a single giant component, which is what usually holds true as it is hard for two or more giant components to exist within a single network for too long. As a result of these two features, a rumor ultimately reaches every node in the network in a rather rapid fashion.
Although the research team focused on the spread of rumors in social networks, their findings can be applied to the spread of information in general, and serves to support and supplement our learnings about networks and the strength of weak ties. As we live in an age of information and social media, it is important to understand the way information is most efficiently spread and what network features and structures facilitate the spread of information.