  Communication networks show the small-world property of short paths, but the
spreading dynamics in them turns out slow. We follow the time evolution of
information propagation through communication networks by using the SI model
with empirical data on contact sequences. We introduce null models where the
sequences are randomly shuffled in different ways, enabling us to distinguish
between the contributions of different impeding effects. The slowing down of
spreading is found to be caused mostly by weight-topology correlations and the
bursty activity patterns of individuals.

Physics and Society;Social and Information Networks;Adaptation and Self-Organizing Systems;Biological Physics