A New Application of Social Impact in Social Media for Overcoming Fake News in Health

Cristina M. Pulido, Laura Ruiz-Eugenio, Gisela Redondo-Sama and Beatriz Villarejo-Carballido
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Cristina M. Pulido: Department of Journalism and Communication Studies, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Campus de la UAB, Plaça Cívica, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
Laura Ruiz-Eugenio: Department of Theory and History of Education, University of Barcelona, Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, 585, 08007 Barcelona, Spain
Gisela Redondo-Sama: Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, University of Deusto, Unibertsitate Etorb., 24, 48007 Bilbo, Bizkaia, Spain
Beatriz Villarejo-Carballido: Faculty of Psychology and Education, University of Deusto, Unibertsitate Etorb., 24, 48007 Bilbo, Bizkaia, Spain

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 7, 1-15

Abstract: One of the challenges today is to face fake news (false information) in health due to its potential impact on people’s lives. This article contributes to a new application of social impact in social media (SISM) methodology. This study focuses on the social impact of the research to identify what type of health information is false and what type of information is evidence of the social impact shared in social media. The analysis of social media includes Reddit, Facebook, and Twitter. This analysis contributes to identifying how interactions in these forms of social media depend on the type of information shared. The results indicate that messages focused on fake health information are mostly aggressive, those based on evidence of social impact are respectful and transformative, and finally, deliberation contexts promoted in social media overcome false information about health. These results contribute to advancing knowledge in overcoming fake health-related news shared in social media.

Keywords: social media analysis; social impact in social media; public health; fake news; vaccines; nutrition; Ebola (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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