The notion that the routes taken by chain email are viral in nature has been challenged by findings from the US National Science Foundation. Research into forwarded messages by Jon Kleinberg of Cornell University and David Liben-Nowell of Carleton College looked at two email petitions circulated within the past ten years. One petition in support of public radio began circulating in 1995; the other, in opposition to the US invasion of Iraq, originated in 2002. Both messages were circulated widely - the researchers were able to find 316 copies of the public radio petition containing 13,000 signatures, and 637 copies of the Iraq petition with 20,000 signatures.
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