On the statistical properties of viral misinformation in online social media

Bessi, Alessandro

doi:10.1016/j.physa.2016.11.012

Cited by 34 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Schifferes et al (2014) noted that, as social media has become a primary source of news, fears about the reliability of information found on websites, such as Twitter and Facebook increase (p. 406). This was supported by Bessi (2017) who declared that social media continues to contribute to the rapid dissemination of user-generated information, which includes hoaxes, false claims, fabricated news and conspiracy theories. Lee and Ma (2012) consider social media platforms as extremely powerful tools that allow individuals to consume and share information around the world within minutes.…”

Section: Fake News Judgementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Even though some fake news creators spread news for money purposes, the intentions of others may be wilier than making profit and therefore may be more influential in shaping public opinion. Seemingly, as noted by Bessi (2017), fake and intentionally fabricated news receive a significant attention and interaction on social media than real news.…”

Section: Fake News Judgementmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fake news judgement

Rayess

Chebl

Mhanna

et al. 2018

RSR

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Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to provide library professionals with insights into students' fake news judgment and the importance of teaching media and information literacy, not as an option but as a core educational requirement. Design/methodology/approach-Qualtrics was used to collect the study data. Students completed a set of tasks designed in the form of a survey that entailed verifying whether news, stories, images and news sources were real, fake, dubious or trustworthy. Statistical tests were used to asses whether their responses depended on criteria, such as faculty and gender. Findings-No significant relationship exists between the students' responses and variables, such as gender, student category, fact-checking and source of information. The findings reveal that students' ability to identify the authoritativeness of information is dependent on the faculty in which they are enrolled. Originality/value-This paper reports the first known attempt in Lebanon to measure students' ability in distinguishing fake from real news. The results of this paper can be used by library professionals, particularly in Lebanon, to convey the importance of teaching and embedding media and information literacy into their curriculum.

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Section: Fake News Judgementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Fake News Judgementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fake news judgement

Rayess

Chebl

Mhanna

et al. 2018

RSR

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Recent communication developments, especially social media platforms, exacerbate the problems with fake news as it allows false information to be planted and spread far more easily than before (Bessi, 2017). Social bots, fake accounts that post content and interact with users, often take the blame for the spread of fake news (Bessi & Ferrara, 2016), which resulted in a call for interventions aimed at curtailing bots (Shao et al, 2018;Yang et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Infodemic: the effect of death-related thoughts on news-sharing

Lim¹,

Tan

Lim³

2021

Cogn. Research

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Research on the sharing of fake news has primarily focused on the manner in which fake news spreads and the literary style of fake news. These studies, however, do not explain how characteristics of fake news could affect people’s inclination toward sharing these news articles. Drawing on the Terror Management Theory, we proposed that fake news is more likely to elicit death-related thoughts than real news. Consequently, to manage the existential anxiety that had been produced, people share the news articles to feel connected to close others as a way of resolving the existential anxiety. Across three experimental studies (total N = 416), we found that it was not news type per se (i.e., real versus fake news) that influenced news-sharing intentions; instead, it was the increased accessibility to death-related thoughts elicited from the content of news articles that motivated news-sharing. The findings support the Terror Management framework and contribute to the existing literature by providing an empirical examination of the underlying psychological motive behind fake news-sharing tendencies.

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“…29 Moreover, such (fake) messages tend to be transmitted with significantly higher frequency compared to legitimate messages, and gain credibility over time. [30][31][32] Nevertheless, one expects that medical students would be less susceptible to such "misinformation networks", given the unrestricted access to the bill document online, as well as motivation to know the facts. 33 That such fact-checking was not performed in a matter that directly affects them, exposes their vulnerability to fake medical news pertaining to more mundane aspects of medical practice.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Medical students and the National Medical Commission bill: negativity and misinformation combine

Johnson

Sulfy

Shajahan

et al. 2018

Int J Community Med Public Health

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the country, with the Indian Medical Association (IMA) leading the offensive. [18][19][20][21][22][23][24] Despite the outrage, medical students seemed unfamiliar with actual content of the NMC bill. Therefore, we wanted to determine 1. The knowledge of, and attitude towards the NMC bill; 2. The factors influencing knowledge and attitude of medical students regarding the NMC bill. ABSTRACTBackground: The National Medical Commission bill (NMC bill) was drafted in response to concerns regarding medical education and healthcare in India. It seeks to reform medical education in India. However, a storm of protests by medical students and doctors erupted after it was tabled in parliament. This study was conducted to determine medical students" knowledge of, and attitude towards the NMC bill. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among medical students in a private medical college in south India. A tool based on each section of the NMC bill was developed to assess knowledge. Attitude was assessed using a 5-point Likert scale. Separate knowledge and attitude scores were computed. Statistical analyses were performed using EZR (version 1.36). Descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, logistic regression analyses were performed. Results: Only 74 (31.49%) had adequate knowledge of the NMC bill. The major source of information regarding the NMC Bill was social media (191; 81.28%), followed by newspapers (107; 45.53%). Those who were aware of the amendments to the bill; and who received information about the bill from newspapers were significantly more likely to have adequate knowledge. Participation in IMA protest rally was significantly associated with negative attitude; belonging to main (regular) batch was significantly associated with positive attitude towards the bill. Superior knowledge was not associated with positive attitude towards the bill. Conclusions: Medical students lack knowledge about the NMC bill, but have strong negative attitude towards it. Negative attitude is significantly associated with participation in IMA protest rally against NMC bill.

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On the statistical properties of viral misinformation in online social media

Cited by 34 publications

References 53 publications

Fake news judgement

Fake news judgement

Infodemic: the effect of death-related thoughts on news-sharing

Medical students and the National Medical Commission bill: negativity and misinformation combine

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