DIFFUSION IN COMPLEX SOCIAL NETWORKS

This paper studies the problem of spreading a product (an idea or a technology) among agents in a social network. An agent obtains the product with a probability that depends on the spreading rate (or degree of contagion) of the product as well as on the behaviour of the agent?s neighbours. This paper shows, using a mean field approach, that there exists a threshold for the spreading rate that shapes the pattern of the product?s diffusion. This threshold, that depends on the network structure and the mechanism of contagion, determines whether the product spreads and becomes persistent or it does not spread and vanishes.