Social media fuels a wave of coronavirus misinformation when users focus on popularity instead of accuracy

(Conversation is an independent, non-profit source of news, analysis, and commentary from academic and professional sources.)

Jon-Patrick Allem, University of Southern California

(Conversation) Over the past few weeks, false alarms about the new coronavirus pandemic have spread on social media at an alarming rate. One of the talked-out videos claimed that sucking hot air from a hair dryer could cure COVID-19. A Twitter post promoted injecting vitamin C into the bloodstream to treat viral illness. Other threads have advocated the unsubstantiated claim that using organic oregano oil is effective against the virus, such as using colloidal silver.

The number of false, and sometimes dangerous, claims is worried as people are unintentionally spreading them to an increasingly wide range.

Faced with this previously unknown virus, millions of people have been constantly informed about the latest developments and have turned to social media platforms to stay connected with friends and family . Twitter reported that there were about 12 million daily users in the first three months of 2020 than in the last three months of 2019.

What people see, follow, express and repost on social media platforms is all the communication I’m studying as a director of the social media analytics lab at USC’s Keck School of Medicine. The goal of my lab is to better understand health-related attitudes and behaviors using data published on Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, YouTube and more.

As the coronavirus pandemic became widespread, we discovered some nasty trends.

Why do people persist wrong information online?

Initial evidence suggests that many people unintentionally share incorrect information about COVID-19.

Although social media has many reliable sources, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization, most social media platforms are not designed to prioritize the best information. Engaged first, whether accurate or not. Content that keeps users on the platform takes precedence.

My team’s research suggests that people’s motivation for sharing may also be part of the problem. We found that Twitter users tend to retweet to show approval, assert, attract attention and entertain. The truthfulness of the post and the accuracy of the claims were not identified as motivations for retweets. In other words, people may be more concerned about whether a tweet is popular or exciting than if the message is true.

Artificial intelligence is not stopping it

Social media companies are committed to combating misinformation on the platform. However, concerns about coronaviruses leave human reviewers at home and lack the necessary support to securely review sensitive content, so they rely more on artificial intelligence to moderate content than ever before. This approach increases the likelihood of mistakes, such as incorrect content being flagged incorrectly or problematic content not immediately detected.

Until we can identify the wrong information in real time on social media platforms, everyone needs to be careful about where to get news about coronavirus. Fact check organizations can help disguise false claims. But they are also overwhelmed by the coronavirus flood of misinformation.

Even if major social media companies have action plans to report, curb, and remove incorrect information across platforms, problematic content can slip through cracks and turn social media users into potentially dangerous information. Expose.

Social policing can backfire

Another annoying trend is the form of social policing on social media platforms that can have unintended consequences.

It is not new for social media users to be ashamed of someone who disagrees or accuse them of violating social norms on social media. During the current pandemic, social media people are ashamed of others by socializing and ignoring social distance recommendations, such as posting college student images on bars and crowded beaches. You.

However, when social media users try to convince their followers to act according to existing norms, they need to be aware of the method and any subliminal messages they may be sending.

Posting, transferring, or mourning at the captured moment of those who ignore social distance measures is not the most effective way to curb these actions. The reason is that the fundamental message that one can walk away from is that people are still social. This impression may lead people to remain social and may negate the intended effect of such social policing.

Research has shown that civil servants often attempt to mobilize disapproval behavior by portraying it disastrously frequently. As a result, they introduce descriptive norms of adverse effects into the audience’s mind. For social distances, there are many examples of crowded parks and markets, churches, hiking trails and backyards.

Instead, social media users who seek to reduce such behavior should pay attention to approved behavior. This can be achieved with people posting from home by social distance measures, without mentioning others who are ignoring them.

What is doing right?

When used wisely, social media can be a powerful tool for changing behavior.

Physicians at the forefront of intensive care units often share coronavirus information on social media. They provide useful information on how to protect ourselves and family from this disease. Scientists at other leading doctors are using social media to deceive rumors.

Communication campaigns from public health authorities can also begin to strengthen normative behavior by recommending healthy activities that can reduce the boring and loneliness of social distance measurement. Social sharing and policing will continue. The difference can depend on how the public is involved in social media.

[You need to understand the coronavirus pandemic, and we can help. Read The Conversation’s newsletter.]

This article was republished from a conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/social-media-fuels-wave-of-coronavirus-misinformation-as-users-focus-on-popularity-not-accuracy-135179.