Viral spread, phase transition, memes

I wrote something on twitter (formerly x.com), and I thought I had to share it.

→ that's not weird, you're both nodes in a network, you're hit by the same viral trends/waves at the same time.

→ also, model of phenomena is this : there are nodes in the network. Here, they're people. they're segregated by similar preferences. they share what they like ; so that the more something is popular, the quicker it gains popularity. that's an exponential.

→ this phenomena produces a wave. Here's how this works. As the meme spreads to a significant share of the population. That's maybe 20%. The spread starts slowing down (second derivative). The phenomena approaches saturation. Here, that means people have already seen the meme.

→ So the spread is like a phase transition (look it up) from the state when one guy makes a viral meme, to when everyone who might be interested in the meme has seen it and is tired of it.

Understanding the way the world works, actually applying the theory to what you’re seeing around you - I don’t know, it’s like drugs to me. Not that I do any, mind you.