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Diffusion of Multiple Information: On Information Resilience and the Power of Segregation

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  • Nicole Tabasso

    (University of Surrey, United Kingdom)

Abstract

We introduce two pieces of information, denoted memes, into a diffusion process in which memes are transmitted when individuals meet and forgotten at an exogenous rate. At most one meme can be transmitted at a meeting, which introduces opportunity costs in the process. Individuals differ according to which meme they find more interesting, and that is the one they transmit if they face a choice. We find that both memes survive under the same parameter values, and that relative interest is the main determinant in the number of people informed of a meme in the long run. We apply our framework to analyze the impact of segregation and find that segregation leads to polarization. Segregation also reduces the overall number of people informed in the long run. Our final set of results shows that agents are more likely to prefer segregation if their information preferences are more extreme, if they have few social contacts, or if they prefer a meme that is preferred by only a small fraction of the population

Suggested Citation

  • Nicole Tabasso, 2015. "Diffusion of Multiple Information: On Information Resilience and the Power of Segregation," Working Papers 2015.55, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    • Handle: RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.55
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Domino, Krzysztof & Miszczak, Jarosław Adam, 2022. "Will you infect me with your opinion?," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 608(P1).
    2. Luca P. Merlino & Paolo Pin & Nicole Tabasso, 2023. "Debunking Rumors in Networks," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(1), pages 467-496, February.
    3. Teruyoshi Kobayashi & Tomokatsu Onaga, 2023. "Dynamics of diffusion on monoplex and multiplex networks: a message-passing approach," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 76(1), pages 251-287, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social Networks; Information Transmission; Multiple States; Segregation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • D85 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Network Formation

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