Modeling Rumor Diffusion Process With the Consideration of Individual Heterogeneity: Take the Imported Food Safety Issue as an Example During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

At present, rumors appear frequently in social platforms. The rumor diffusion will cause a great impact on the network order and the stability of the society. So it's necessary to study the diffusion process and develop the rumor control strategies. This article integrates three heterogeneous factors into the SEIR model and designs an individual state transition mode at first. Secondly, based on the influencing factors such as the trust degree among individuals, an individual information interaction mode is constructed. Finally, an improved SEIR model named SEIR-OM model is established, and the diffusion process of rumors are simulated and analyzed. The results show that: (1) when the average value of the interest correlation is greater, the information content deviation is lower, but the rumor diffusion range will be wider. (2) The increase of the average network degree intensifies influence of rumors, but its impact on the diffusion has a peak. (3) Adopting strategies in advance can effectively reduce the influence of rumors. In addition, the government should enforce rumor-refuting strategies right after the event. Also, the number of rumor-refuting individuals must be paid attention to. Finally, the article verifies the rationality and effectiveness of the SEIR-OM model through the real case.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; SEIR-OM model; individual heterogeneity; rumor control; rumor diffusion.