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Article . 2025
License: CC BY
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ACM Transactions on the Web
Article . 2025 . Peer-reviewed
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ACM Transactions on the Web
Article . 2025 . Peer-reviewed
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Modeling Disinformation Spread in Social Networks: Phase Transitions and Mean-Field Analysis

Authors: Spyridon Evangelatos; Eleni Veroni; Vasilis Efthymiou; Christos Nikolopoulos;

Modeling Disinformation Spread in Social Networks: Phase Transitions and Mean-Field Analysis

Abstract

The pervasive spread of disinformation across social media platforms has become a significant global challenge, disrupting democratic processes, undermining public trust, and fueling societal polarization. Existing approaches often neglect the dynamic and structural mechanisms that drive the spread and adoption of false narratives. This article leverages the well-established principles and methodologies of Statistical Mechanics and introduces a dynamic Mean-Field framework to model the evolution of disinformation within social networks. The framework introduces innovative elements, including heterogeneous coupling strengths to capture diverse social influences among network users, memory effects to account for cognitive inertia or belief re-evaluation and a three-state Potts model to represent polarization and neutrality in opinion dynamics. It employs the concept of effective fields to integrate external disinformation campaigns, facilitating a detailed analysis of critical thresholds and phase transitions. Monte Carlo simulations are performed to further illustrate the transient and equilibrium dynamics of belief adoption and rejection. Our findings provide actionable insights for the disinformation spread and offer a theoretical foundation for designing targeted interventions to mitigate its harmful effects on societies.

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    popularity
    This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
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    influence
    This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
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    impulse
    This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
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selected citations
These citations are derived from selected sources.
This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Citations provided by BIP!
popularity
This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Popularity provided by BIP!
influence
This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Influence provided by BIP!
impulse
This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Impulse provided by BIP!
1
Average
Average
Average
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