Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/23732
Title: | Misinformation on Misinformation: Conceptual and Methodological Challenges |
Authors: | Altay, S Berriche, M Acerbi, A |
Keywords: | misinformation;misperceptions;social media;conspiracy theories;big data;audience research |
Issue Date: | 28-Jan-2023 |
Publisher: | SAGE Publications |
Citation: | Altay, S., Berriche, M. and Acerbi, A. (2023) 'Misinformation on Misinformation: Conceptual and Methodological Challenges', Social Media and Society, 9 (1), pp. 1 - 13. doi: 10.1177/2056305122115. |
Abstract: | Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Alarmist narratives about online misinformation continue to gain traction despite evidence that its prevalence and impact are overstated. Drawing on research examining the use of big data in social science and reception studies, we identify six misconceptions about misinformation and highlight the conceptual and methodological challenges they raise. The first set of misconceptions concerns the prevalence and circulation of misinformation. First, scientists focus on social media because it is methodologically convenient, but misinformation is not just a social media problem. Second, the internet is not rife with misinformation or news, but with memes and entertaining content. Third, falsehoods do not spread faster than the truth; how we define (mis)information influences our results and their practical implications. The second set of misconceptions concerns the impact and the reception of misinformation. Fourth, people do not believe everything they see on the internet: the sheer volume of engagement should not be conflated with belief. Fifth, people are more likely to be uninformed than misinformed; surveys overestimate misperceptions and say little about the causal influence of misinformation. Sixth, the influence of misinformation on people’s behavior is overblown as misinformation often “preaches to the choir.” To appropriately understand and fight misinformation, future research needs to address these challenges. |
URI: | https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/23732 |
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305122115 |
ISSN: | 2056-3051 |
Other Identifiers: | ORCID iDs: Manon Berriche https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1381-8330; Alberto Acerbi https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5827-8003. |
Appears in Collections: | Dept of Life Sciences Research Papers |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format | |
---|---|---|---|---|
FullText.pdf | Copyright © The Author(s) 2023. Rights and permissions: Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC 4.0). This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). | 427.36 kB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
This item is licensed under a Creative Commons License