Rumor propagation meets skepticism: A parallel with zombies
Abstract
We propose a model of rumor spreading in which susceptible, but skeptically oriented individuals may oppose the rumor. Resistance may be implemented either by skeptical activists trying to convince spreaders to stop their activity, becoming stiflers or, passively (non-reactive) as a consequence, for example, of fact-checking. Interestingly, these two mechanisms, when combined, are similar to the (assumed) spreading of a fictitious zombie outbreak, where survivors actively target infected people. We analyse the well-mixed (mean-field) description and obtain the conditions for rumors (zombies) to spread through the whole population. The results show that when the skepticism is strong enough, the model predicts the coexistence of two fixed points (such bistability may be related to polarized situations), with the fate of rumors depending on the initial exposure to it.
- Publication:
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EPL (Europhysics Letters)
- Pub Date:
- October 2018
- DOI:
- 10.1209/0295-5075/124/18007
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1810.03775
- Bibcode:
- 2018EL....12418007A
- Keywords:
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- Physics - Physics and Society;
- Condensed Matter - Statistical Mechanics;
- Physics - Biological Physics;
- Quantitative Biology - Populations and Evolution
- E-Print:
- Europhysics Letters, Volume 124, Number 1, 2018