Seeding a Simple Contagion

I propose a method for selecting seeds to maximize contagion. First, fit a random graph model using a coarse categorization of individuals. Next, compute a seed multiplier for each category—this is the average number of new infections a seed generates. Finally, seed the category with the highest multiplier. Relative to the most common methods, my approach requires far less granular data, and it consumes less computing power—the problem scales with the number of categories, not the number of individuals. I validate the methodology through simulations using real network data.