Methods for information spread analysis

Spread of information is a fundamental process taking place on the Internet. Every day we can observe the publication of various information and its further dissemination through news articles and messages from ordinary users. Although the process itself can be observed explicitly, it is difficult to determine individual propagation paths. The increase of global information in all spheres of human life radically changes the speed and ways of disseminating information. In this review, we study models of information flows on the Internet and divide them into two groups: explanatory models, which suggest the existence of the underlying network over which information propagates, and predictive models, studying spread of individual information flows. Despite all the complexity, the study of the important properties of information spread is necessary for understanding the general processes occurring in the modern information society.