1. A method of determining network content virality, comprising: receiving, with a processor, network data having a plurality of time points at which individual users interact with a network content item and connection information of the users in the computer network, wherein the connection information indicates one or more social network relationships among the individual users over the computer network; determining a temporal propagation pattern of the network content item across the computer network by inferring propagation of the network content item from one user to another based on the plurality of time points and the connection information, wherein inferring propagation further comprises: successively designating a plurality of parent-child node relationships for each pair of individual users to derive a diffusion cascade, wherein a first user is assigned as a parent node if connected to a respective second user assigned as a child node, and wherein a first time point of the plurality of time points corresponding to the first user occurs earlier than a respective second time point corresponding to the second user; calculating, with the processor, a virality metric of the network content item based on a fraction of a largest number of child nodes of a single parent node over a total number of nodes in the diffusion cascade; determining whether the calculated virality metric is above a threshold value; and transmitting recommendations of the network content item to additional users via the computer network when the calculated virality metric is above that threshold value.