Related papers: Science vs Conspiracy: collective narratives in th…
During the COVID-19 pandemic, scientific knowledge evolved rapidly, accompanied by a surge of misinformation, labelled an infodemic by the WHO. In this context, we study the interaction between science and misinformation on Twitter (now X)…
Online platforms play a relevant role in the creation and diffusion of false or misleading news. Concerningly, the COVID-19 pandemic is shaping a communication network - barely considered in the literature - which reflects the emergence of…
Previous work suggests that people's preference for different kinds of information depends on more than just accuracy. This could happen because the messages contained within different pieces of information may either be well-liked or…
Communication of scientific knowledge beyond the walls of science is key to science's societal impact. Media channels play sizable roles in disseminating new scientific ideas about human health, economic welfare, and government policy as…
In this study, we closely look at the use of social media contents as source or reference in the U.S. news media. Specifically, we examine about 60 thousand news articles published within the 5 years period of 2013-2017 by 153 U.S. media…
The COVID-19 pandemic has not only had severe political, economic, and societal effects, it has also affected media and communication systems in unprecedented ways. While traditional journalistic media has tried to adapt to the rapidly…
Despite their playful purpose social media changed the way users access information, debate, and form their opinions. Recent studies, indeed, showed that users online tend to promote their favored narratives and thus to form polarized…
People from all over the world use social media to share thoughts and opinions about events, and understanding what people say through these channels has been of increasing interest to researchers, journalists, and marketers alike. However,…
Rumors and conspiracy theories thrive in environments of low confidence and low trust. Consequently, it is not surprising that ones related to the Covid-19 pandemic are proliferating given the lack of any authoritative scientific consensus…
One of the critical emerging challenges in climate change communication is the prevalence of conspiracy theories. This paper discusses some of the major conspiracy theories related to climate change found in a large Twitter corpus. We use a…
For many people, social media is an important way to consume news on important topics like health. Unfortunately, some influential health news is misinformation because it is based on retracted scientific work. Ours is the first work to…
Social media's unfettered access has made it an important venue for health discussion and a resource for patients and their loved ones. However, the quality of the information available, as well as the motivations of its posters, has been…
Social networks offer a ready channel for fake and misleading news to spread and exert influence. This paper examines the performance of different reputation algorithms when applied to a large and statistically significant portion of the…
Today, social media provide the means by which billions of people experience news and events happening around the world. However, the absence of traditional journalistic gatekeeping allows information to flow unencumbered through these…
Understanding why people trust or distrust one another, institutions, or information is a complex task that has led scholars from various fields of study to employ diverse epistemological and methodological approaches. Despite the…
Online video-sharing sites such as YouTube are very popular and also used by a lot of people to obtain knowledge and information, also on science, health and technology. Technically they could be valuable tools for the public communication…
Background: The COVID-19 outbreak has left many people isolated within their homes; these people are turning to social media for news and social connection, which leaves them vulnerable to believing and sharing misinformation.…
The Internet and social media have transformed news availability and accessibility, reshaping information consumption and production. However, they can also facilitate the rapid spread of misinformation, posing significant societal…
Online misinformation has been a serious threat to public health and society. Social media users are known to reply to misinformation posts with counter-misinformation messages, which have been shown to be effective in curbing the spread of…
The concept of truth, as a public good is the production of a collective understanding, which emerges from a complex network of social interactions. The recent impact of social networks on shaping the perception of truth in political arena…