Effects of two channels on explosive information spreading

Abstract

Information spreading has been studied for decades, but the underlying mechanism why the information can be accepted by a large number of people overnight is still under debate, especially in the aspects of two-channel effects for information transmission and theoretical analysis. In this study, based on a susceptible-accepted-recovered (SAR) model, we examine the effects of two channels represented by a two-layered network, in which one channel is the intra-links within the same layer and the other is inter-links between layers. Different with the case of one single channel on a one-layered network, in the case of two channels, the spreading can be speeded up by the increase in the coupling strength, i.e., average node degree and transmission probability between the two layers. Strikingly, even if the parameter (social reinforcement) is small, the strongly coupling strength can induce explosive transition in the information spreading process. Additionally, a big gap closed to the critical point for the explosive transition was found in the phase space of theoretical analysis, which indicates the emergency of a global large-scope outbreak. These findings may be of significance on the understanding and controlling explosive information spreading in modern society.