Spreading of Memes on Multiplex Networks

TL;DR

This paper introduces a generalized model for meme spreading on multiplex social networks, analyzing its critical behavior and heavy-tailed popularity distributions using branching-process methods.

Contribution

It extends previous models to arbitrary networks and incorporates multiplex dynamics, providing a more realistic framework for meme propagation analysis.

Findings

Model captures meme spreading on specific networks.

Analysis shows the system is near a critical point.

Heavy-tailed popularity distributions emerge.

Abstract

A model for the spreading of online information or "memes" on multiplex networks is introduced and analyzed using branching-process methods. The model generalizes that of [Gleeson et al., Phys.Rev. X., 2016] in two ways. First, even for a monoplex (single-layer) network, the model is defined for any specific network defined by its adjacency matrix, instead of being restricted to an ensemble of random networks. Second, a multiplex version of the model is introduced to capture the behaviour of users who post information from one social media platform to another. In both cases the branching process analysis demonstrates that the dynamical system is, in the limit of low innovation, poised near a critical point, which is known to lead to heavy-tailed distributions of meme popularity similar to those observed in empirical data.