ABSTRACT
The concepts of herd immunity and curve flattening are explained in the context of epidemic models. The chapter expands upon the epidemic model example from the previous chapter and offer new insight into modeling epidemiology-based models. In addition to the model variables, there are several parameters of concern: the spreading rate, recovery rate, connectedness, and population size. Just like with epidemiology models, assumptions and simplifications can help make information spread models more manageable and practical. Many basic deterministic information spread models can trace their dynamical origins to special applications of epidemiology-based disease spread models. Since the previous ISCR models do not address multiple end-points of contentious information spread, a special model must be developed to examine form of spread in a social media network. Several real-world examples demonstrate the practicality of presenting a novel ISSRR model. Political campaigns between competing measures or candidates that represent a community ideology split will incite debate and lead to subjective decisions.
