Understanding the spread of COVID-19 misinformation on social media: The effects of topics and a political leader's nudge.
J Assoc Inf Sci Technol
; 73(5): 726-737, 2022 May.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1437029
ABSTRACT
The spread of misinformation on social media has become a major societal issue during recent years. In this work, we used the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic as a case study to systematically investigate factors associated with the spread of multi-topic misinformation related to one event on social media based on the heuristic-systematic model. Among factors related to systematic processing of information, we discovered that the topics of a misinformation story matter, with conspiracy theories being the most likely to be retweeted. As for factors related to heuristic processing of information, such as when citizens look up to their leaders during such a crisis, our results demonstrated that behaviors of a political leader, former US President Donald J. Trump, may have nudged people's sharing of COVID-19 misinformation. Outcomes of this study help social media platform and users better understand and prevent the spread of misinformation on social media.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Systematic review/Meta Analysis
Language:
English
Journal:
J Assoc Inf Sci Technol
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
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