Fake news or bad news? Toward an emotion-driven cognitive dissonance model of misinformation diffusion

Wang, Rui; He, Yuan; Xu, Jing; Zhang, Hongzhong

doi:10.1080/01292986.2020.1811737

Cited by 49 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 72 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…However, pessimists point that emotional catharsis, distortion of facts, and rude remarks are widespread on social media [ 57 ]. As the contents of social media can influence individuals’ knowledge, attitudes, and behavior, the official government accounts or ordinary users publishing food safety information can both trigger the emotions of others [ 58 ]. In addition, some scholars have found that news media companies reporting food safety scandals through their social media accounts can amplify consumer anxiety [ 59 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The publisher of a tweet is not only the subject of the emotion, but also the communicator of the emotion. The type of account for posting tweets may have a certain impact on the emotions of users in the tweets [ 54 , 58 ]. Based on the evidence, we hypothesize the following:…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The public’s response to any food safety crisis is particularly strong. This negative emotion is often caused by anger toward weak government supervision or enterprise fraud, and it spreads rapidly on social media [ 58 ]. Based on the evidence, we hypothesize the following:…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Social media is the main source of misinformation regarding food safety, which has become a serious problem in China. People who are misinformed are increasingly spreading rumors about food safety on social media [ 58 ]. Since understanding food safety information requires a certain degree of professional knowledge, short texts cannot provide clear explanations and often cause communication problems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The low threshold and anonymity of information dissemination on social media promote the viral spread of fake news and rumors on the Internet [ 58 ]. As the Internet and social media have become major sources of information, an increasing number of users have become the victims of fake news.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Factors Affecting Social Media Users’ Emotions Regarding Food Safety Issues: Content Analysis of a Debate among Chinese Weibo Users on Genetically Modified Food Security

Xiong

2021

Healthcare

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Social media is gradually building an online information environment regarding health. This environment is filled with many types of users’ emotions regarding food safety, especially negative emotions that can easily cause panic or anger among the population. However, the mechanisms of how it affects users’ emotions have not been fully studied. Therefore, from the perspective of communication and social psychology, this study uses the content analysis method to analyze factors affecting social media users’ emotions regarding food safety issues. In total, 371 tweet samples of genetically modified food security in Sina Weibo (similar to Twitter) were encoded, measured, and analyzed. The major findings are as follows: (1) Tweet account type, tweet topic, and emotion object were all significantly related to emotion type. Tweet depth and objectivity were both positively affected by emotion type, and objectivity had a greater impact. (2) Account type, tweet topic, and emotion object were all significantly related to emotion intensity. When the depths were the same, emotion intensity became stronger with the decrease in objectivity. (3) Account type, tweet topic, emotion object, and emotion type were all significantly related to a user’s emotion communication capacity. Tweet depth, objectivity, and user’s emotion intensity were positively correlated with emotion communication capacity. Positive emotions had stronger communication capacities than negative ones, which is not consistent with previous studies. These findings help us to understand both theoretically and practically the changes and dissemination of user’s emotions in a food safety and health information environment.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations