Related papers: Abortion Misinformation on TikTok: Rampant Content…
In this study, we tested users' perception of accuracy and engagement with TikTok videos in which ChatGPT responded to prompts about "at-home" abortion remedies. The chatbot's responses, though somewhat vague and confusing, nonetheless…
Misinformation is "sticky" in nature, requiring a considerable effort to undo its influence. One such effort is debunking or exposing the falsity of information. As an abundance of misinformation is on social media, platforms do bear some…
Despite the ever-strong demand for mental health care globally, access to traditional mental health services remains severely limited expensive, and stifled by stigma and systemic barriers. Thus, over the last few years, young people are…
Abortion is a controversial topic that has long been debated in the US. With the recent Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, access to safe and legal reproductive care is once again in the national spotlight. A key issue central…
During the COVID-19 pandemic, health-related misinformation and harmful content shared online had a significant adverse effect on society. To mitigate this adverse effect, mainstream social media platforms employed soft moderation…
Abortion remains one of the most controversial topics, especially after overturning Roe v. Wade ruling in the United States. Previous literature showed that the illegality of abortion could have serious consequences, as women might seek…
TikTok has seen exponential growth as a platform, fuelled by the success of its proprietary recommender algorithm which serves tailored content to every user - though not without controversy. Users complain of their content being unfairly…
Short form video platforms are central sites for health advice, where alternative narratives mix useful, misleading, and harmful content. Rather than adjudicating truth, this study examines how credibility is packaged in nutrition and…
With the 2022 US midterm elections approaching, conspiratorial claims about the 2020 presidential elections continue to threaten users' trust in the electoral process. To regulate election misinformation, YouTube introduced policies to…
Selecting a birth control method is a complex healthcare decision. While birth control methods provide important benefits, they can also cause unpredictable side effects and be stigmatized, leading many people to seek additional information…
Recommendation algorithms (RS) used by social media, like YouTube, significantly shape our information consumption across various domains, especially in healthcare. Hence, algorithmic auditing becomes crucial to uncover their potential bias…
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…
In today's digital age, concerns about online security and privacy have become paramount. However, addressing these issues can be difficult, especially within the context of family relationships, wherein parents and children may have…
Twitter, prompted by the rapid spread of alternative narratives, started actively warning users about the spread of COVID-19 misinformation. This form of soft moderation comes in two forms: as a warning cover before the Tweet is displayed…
Social media platforms actively moderate content glorifying harmful behaviors like eating disorders, which include anorexia and bulimia. However, users have adapted to evade moderation by using coded hashtags. Our study investigates the…
Digital technologies and social algorithms are revolutionizing the media landscape, altering how we select and consume health information. Extending the selectivity paradigm with research on social media engagement, the convergence…
On June 24, 2022, the United States Supreme Court overturned landmark rulings made in its 1973 verdict in Roe v. Wade. The justices by way of a majority vote in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, decided that abortion wasn't a…
Recommender systems on social media increasingly mediate how users encounter mental health content, yet it remains unclear whether they distinguish help-seeking from distress expression. We conduct a controlled 7-day audit of TikTok's "For…
TikTok is a major force among social media platforms with over a billion monthly active users worldwide and 170 million in the United States. The platform's status as a key news source, particularly among younger demographics, raises…
Recent years have witnessed a significant increase in the online sharing of medical information, with videos representing a large fraction of such online sources. Previous studies have however shown that more than half of the health-related…