Investigating the Effects of Misinformation as Infopathogens: Developing a Model and Thought Experiment

Roger D. Magarey (), Thomas M. Chappell and Kayla Pack Watson
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Roger D. Magarey: Center for Integrated Pest Management, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA
Thomas M. Chappell: Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
Kayla Pack Watson: Center for Integrated Pest Management, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA

Social Sciences, 2024, vol. 13, issue 6, 1-16

Abstract: Previously, it has been shown that transmissible and harmful misinformation can be viewed as pathogenic, potentially contributing to collective social epidemics. In this study, a biological analogy is developed to allow investigative methods that are applied to biological epidemics to be considered for adaptation to digital and social ones including those associated with misinformation. The model’s components include infopathogens, tropes, cognition, memes, and phenotypes. The model can be used for diagnostic, pathologic, and synoptic/taxonomic study of the spread of misinformation. A thought experiment based on a hypothetical riot is used to understand how disinformation spreads.

Keywords: infopathogen; infodemic; infopocalypse; disinformation; taxonomy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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