  Internet communication channels, e.g., Facebook, Twitter, and email, are
multiplex networks that facilitate interaction and information-sharing among
individuals. During brief time periods users often use a single communication
channel, but then communication channel alteration (CCA) occurs. This means
that we must refine our understanding of the dynamics of social contagions. We
propose a non-Markovian behavior spreading model in multiplex networks that
takes into account the CCA mechanism, and we develop a generalized edge-based
compartmental method to describe the spreading dynamics. Through extensive
numerical simulations and theoretical analyses we find that the time delays
induced by CCA slow the behavior spreading but do not affect the final adoption
size. We also find that the CCA suppresses behavior spreading. On two coupled
random regular networks, the adoption size exhibits hybrid growth, i.e., it
grows first continuously and then discontinuously with the information
transmission probability. CCA in ER-SF multiplex networks in which two
subnetworks are Erd\H{o}s-R\'{e}nyi (ER) and scale-free (SF) introduces a
crossover from continuous to hybrid growth in adoption size versus information
transmission probability. Our results extend our understanding of the role of
CCA in spreading dynamics, and may elicit further research.
