ABSTRACT
More generally, sharing rumors and gossip can also build and maintain social ties, as individuals provide early information to peers, express common perspectives and affiliations, and cope with uncertain circumstances. Online communication technologies are often neutral with respect to the veracity of the information: they can facilitate the spread of both true and false information. Nonetheless, the actions of the individuals in the network (e.g., propagating a rumor, referring to outside sources, criticizing or retracting claims) can determine how rumors spread with different truth values, verifiability, and topic spread.
