Simulating the Diffusion of Information: An Agent-Based Modeling Approach

Diffusion occurs in various contexts and generally involves a network of entities and interactions between entities. Through these interactions, some property, e.g., information, ideas, etc., is spread through the network. This paper presents a general model of diffusion in dynamic networks. The authors simulate the diffusion of evacuation warnings in multiple network structures under various model settings and observe the proportion of evacuated nodes. The network dynamics occur as the result of the diffusion where nodes may leave the network after receiving the warning. The authors use the model to explore how the network structure, seeding strategy, network trust, and trust distribution affect the diffusion process. The effectiveness of the diffusion is a function of the network structure and seeding strategy used in delivering the initial broadcast. The simulation results reveal interesting observations on the effects of network trust and distribution of trust in the network.