An agent based model of spread of competing rumors through online interactions on social media

Abstract

The continued popularity of social media in the dissemination of ideas and the unique features of that channel create important research opportunities in the study of rumor contagion. Using an agent-based modeling framework, we study agent behavior in the spread of competing rumors through an endogenous costly exercise of measured networked interactions whereby agents update their position, opinion or belief with respect to a rumor, and attempt to influence peers through interactions, uniquely shaping group behavior in the spread of rumors. It should be pointed out that this research is still in its nascent stages and much needs to be further investigated. Our initial findings, however, suggest that (i) rumors can survive under competition even with low adopting populations, (ii) latent positions in rumors seem to dominate extreme positions, and (iii) the timing of the effort expended by an agent affects the level of competition between rumors.