Related papers: Structural Dynamics of Harmful Content Disseminati…
A number of recent studies of information diffusion in social media, both empirical and theoretical, have been inspired by viral propagation models derived from epidemiology. These studies model the propagation of memes, i.e., pieces of…
WhatsApp is one of the most widely used messaging platforms globally, with billions of users sharing information in private groups. Yet, it offers little infrastructure to support moderation and group governance. In the absence of…
For the study of information propagation, one fundamental problem is uncovering universal laws governing the dynamics of information propagation. This problem, from the microscopic perspective, is formulated as estimating the propagation…
We investigate the temporal patterns of human communication and its influence on the spreading of information in social networks. The analysis of mobile phone calls of 20 million people in one country shows that human communication is…
We analyze information diffusion using empirical data that tracks online communication around two instances of mass political mobilization, including the year that lapsed in-between the protests. We compare the global properties of the…
Cumulative effect in social contagions underlies many studies on the spread of innovation, behaviors, and influence. However, few large-scale empirical studies are conducted to validate the existence of cumulative effect in the information…
Ideas, behaviors, and opinions spread through social networks. If the probability of spreading to a new individual is a non-linear function of the fraction of the individuals' affected neighbors, such a spreading process becomes a "complex…
Recent years have witnessed a swelling rise of hateful and abusive content over online social networks. While detection and moderation of hate speech have been the early go-to countermeasures, the solution requires a deeper exploration of…
We restrict the propagation of misinformation in a social-media-like environment while preserving the spread of correct information. We model the environment as a random network of users in which each news item propagates in the network in…
Online harassment and abusive language continue to be a growing concern on social media platforms. In this study, we explore the power of group dynamics to shape the toxicity of Twitter conversations. First, we examine how the presence of…
The growing demand for connecting with each other across the world has proved to be a boon to the growth of social media platforms. But when it comes to ensuring the privacy and security of the platform, the control is in hands of few…
Traces of user activities recorded in online social networks such as the creation, viewing and forwarding/sharing of information over time open new possibilities to quantitatively and systematically understand the information diffusion…
Social media enables users to publish, disseminate, and access information easily. The downside is that it has fewer gatekeepers of what content is allowed to enter public circulation than the traditional media. In this paper, we present…
The spread of information has become faster and wider than ever with the advent of social network platforms. The question raised in this study is whether information dissemination in social networks is random or follows a discernible…
As people rely on social media as their primary sources of news, the spread of misinformation has become a significant concern. In this large-scale study of news in social media we analyze eleven million posts and investigate propagation…
Toxic and antisocial user behavior on social media platforms has received considerable scholarly attention due to its detrimental effects on society. This study takes a holistic perspective on the phenomenon of online toxicity by…
WhatsApp, with 3.5 billion active accounts as of early 2025, is the world's largest instant messaging platform. Given its massive user base, WhatsApp plays a critical role in global communication. To initiate conversations, users must first…
Despite its importance for rumors or innovations propagation, peer-to-peer collaboration, social networking or Marketing, the dynamics of information spreading is not well understood. Since the diffusion depends on the heterogeneous…
WeChat is the largest social instant messaging platform in China, with 1.1 billion monthly active users. "Top Stories" is a novel friend-enhanced recommendation engine in WeChat, in which users can read articles based on preferences of both…
The world's digital information ecosystem continues to struggle with the spread of misinformation. Prior work has suggested that users who consistently disseminate a disproportionate amount of low-credibility content -- so-called…