The Challenge of Debunking Health Misinformation in Dynamic Social Media Conversations: Online Randomized Study of Public Masking During COVID-19.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The spread of false and misleading health information on social media can cause individual and social harm. Research on debunking has shown that properly designed corrections can mitigate the impact of misinformation, but little is known about the impact of correction in the context of prolonged social media debates. For example, when a social media user takes to Facebook to make a false claim about a health-related practice and a health expert subsequently refutes the claim, the conversation rarely ends there. Often, the social media user proceeds by rebuking the critic and doubling down on the claim.

Objective

The aim of this study was to examine the impact of such extended back and forth between false claims and debunking attempts on observers' dispositions tow

SUBMITTER: Mourali M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8893717 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature