Digital Resilience in Dealing with Misinformation on Social Media during COVID-19

Stefka Schmid (), Katrin Hartwig (), Robert Cieslinski () and Christian Reuter ()
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Stefka Schmid: TU Darmstadt, Science and Technology for Peace and Security (PEASEC)
Katrin Hartwig: TU Darmstadt, Science and Technology for Peace and Security (PEASEC)
Robert Cieslinski: TU Darmstadt, Science and Technology for Peace and Security (PEASEC)
Christian Reuter: TU Darmstadt, Science and Technology for Peace and Security (PEASEC)

Information Systems Frontiers, 2024, vol. 26, issue 2, No 7, 477-499

Abstract: Abstract In crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, it is crucial to support users when dealing with social media content. Considering digital resilience, we propose a web app based on Social Network Analysis (SNA) to provide an overview of potentially misleading vs. non-misleading content on Twitter, which can be explored by users and enable foundational learning. The latter aims at systematically identifying thematic patterns which may be associated with misleading information. Additionally, it entails reflecting on indicators of misleading tweets which are proposed to approach classification of tweets. Paying special attention to non-expert users of social media, we conducted a two-step Think Aloud study for evaluation. While participants valued the opportunity to generate new knowledge and the diversity of the application, qualities such as equality and rapidity may be further improved. However, learning effects outweighed individual costs as all users were able to shift focus onto relevant features, such as hashtags, while readily pointing out content characteristics. Our design artifact connects to learning-oriented interventions regarding the spread of misleading information and tackles information overload by a SNA-based plug-in.

Keywords: COVID-19; Fake news; Crisis communication; Network analysis; User-centered (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1007/s10796-022-10347-5

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