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arXiv · 1709.02767

A cost-effective rumor-containing strategy

Cheng Pan·Lu-Xing Yang·Xiaofan Yang·Yingbo Wu·Yuan Yan Tang
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Abstract

This paper addresses the issue of suppressing a rumor using the truth in a cost-effective way. First, an individual-level dynamical model capturing the rumor-truth mixed spreading processes is proposed. On this basis, the cost-effective rumor-containing problem is modeled as an optimization problem. Extensive experiments show that finding a cost-effective rumor-containing strategy boils down to enhancing the first truth-spreading rate until the cost effectiveness of the rumor-containing strategy reaches the first turning point. This finding greatly reduces the time spent for solving the optimization problem. The influences of different factors on the optimal cost effectiveness of a rumor-containing strategy are examined through computer simulations. We believe our findings help suppress rumors in a cost-effective way. To our knowledge, this is the first time the rumor-containing problem is treated this way.

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Cheng Pan, Lu-Xing Yang, Xiaofan Yang, Yingbo Wu, Yuan Yan Tang. 2017-09-08. A cost-effective rumor-containing strategy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physa.2018.02.025

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