  The emergence of online social networks has greatly facilitated the diffusion
of information and behaviors. While the two diffusion processes are often
intertwined, "talking the talk" does not necessarily mean "walking the
talk"--those who share information about an action may not actually participate
in it. We do not know if the diffusion of information and behaviors are
similar, or if social influence plays an equally important role in these
processes. Integrating text mining, social network analyses, and survival
analysis, this research examines the concurrent spread of information and
behaviors related to the Ice Bucket Challenge on Twitter. We show that the two
processes follow different patterns. Unilateral social influence contributes to
the diffusion of information, but not to the diffusion of behaviors; bilateral
influence conveyed via the communication process is a significant and positive
predictor of the diffusion of behaviors, but not of information. These results
have implications for theories of social influence, social networks, and
contagion.
