earticle

영어

Misinformation – content that lacks truth, but the motivation of falsehood is uncertain – on social media during a health pandemic presents a major concern for public health. Recently, the vast volume of news and information around COVID-19, which the World Health Organization refers to as “infodemic,” has led to an unprecedented increase of health misinformation woven into the online narrative about the pandemic. Online narratives, particularly on social media platforms, are critical objects of inquiry as narratives are fundamental to how people construct socially shared belief systems, and that can be the primary means to spread health misinformation online. Specifically, in the case of COVID-19, false social media narratives about the origin or unapproved or untested remedies can influence public health attitudes and behavior, potentially costing billions of dollars and numerous lives. For instance, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports a sharp increase in poisoning cases related to cleaners and disinfectants in the US after the COVID-19 outbreak. While social media sites assume responsibility for moderating the platforms towards more meaningful and trustworthy content (for instance, see the joint statement from Facebook, Twitter, Google, YouTube, and others to combat fraud and misinformation about COVID-19), several fact-checking organizations across the world are also devoting their efforts to publish an evidence-based analysis of online narratives to convince audiences of its inauthenticity. However, there is a lack of research on how health misinformation could potentially impact individuals’ attitudes towards the pandemic. To that end, in this study, we develop a topology of health misinformation to understand the health behaviors of individuals.