The COVID-19 Infodemic: Misinformation About Health on Social Media in Istanbul
Misinformation and conspiracy theories can spread as quickly as the COVID-19 pathogen itself. The infodemic, which describes false or misleading information about this recent epidemic on the internet, has become a serious problem all over the world, and has been declared as an “enemy” by the World H...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Marmara University
2022-06-01
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| Series: | Türkiye İletişim Araştırmaları Dergisi |
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| Online Access: | https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/2165578 |
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| author | Serdar Tunçer Mehmet Sinan Tam |
| author_facet | Serdar Tunçer Mehmet Sinan Tam |
| author_sort | Serdar Tunçer |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Misinformation and conspiracy theories can spread as quickly as the COVID-19 pathogen itself. The infodemic, which describes false or misleading information about this recent epidemic on the internet, has become a serious problem all over the world, and has been declared as an “enemy” by the World Health Organization. In this sense, in order to combat the epidemic, it becomes important to reveal the nuances of COVID-19 related infodemic available on the internet. Particularly, internet users in Turkey are increasingly utilizing social media –a platform synonymous with misinformation– to access news coverage regarding the pandemic (World Health Organization, 2020). In this quantitative study focusing on the city of Istanbul (n=399), which is at the epicenter of the outbreak in Turkey, the social media usage of individuals, their trust in these platforms, exposure to misinformation and conspiracy theories, and fact-checking behaviors were examined. Our results indicate that participants tended to believe in misinformation and conspiracy theories rather than confirming information through fact-checking platforms. Nearly half of all participants believed at least one of four widespread conspiracy theories about the virus. Moreover, when fact-checking did identify misinformation, the participants’ trust in social media showed a slight decrease. Based on these findings, our study proposes a comprehensive model for pandemic-related trust, misinformation, conspiracy theories, and fact-checking factors on digital platforms. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-460d7d2e65e443b68b42bfb23d04e706 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2630-6220 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | Marmara University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Türkiye İletişim Araştırmaları Dergisi |
| spelling | doaj-art-460d7d2e65e443b68b42bfb23d04e7062025-01-26T18:31:08ZengMarmara UniversityTürkiye İletişim Araştırmaları Dergisi2630-62202022-06-014034035810.17829/turcom.10506963The COVID-19 Infodemic: Misinformation About Health on Social Media in IstanbulSerdar Tunçer0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7046-4028Mehmet Sinan Tam1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9897-0803Carleton UniversityTrabzon ÜniversitesiMisinformation and conspiracy theories can spread as quickly as the COVID-19 pathogen itself. The infodemic, which describes false or misleading information about this recent epidemic on the internet, has become a serious problem all over the world, and has been declared as an “enemy” by the World Health Organization. In this sense, in order to combat the epidemic, it becomes important to reveal the nuances of COVID-19 related infodemic available on the internet. Particularly, internet users in Turkey are increasingly utilizing social media –a platform synonymous with misinformation– to access news coverage regarding the pandemic (World Health Organization, 2020). In this quantitative study focusing on the city of Istanbul (n=399), which is at the epicenter of the outbreak in Turkey, the social media usage of individuals, their trust in these platforms, exposure to misinformation and conspiracy theories, and fact-checking behaviors were examined. Our results indicate that participants tended to believe in misinformation and conspiracy theories rather than confirming information through fact-checking platforms. Nearly half of all participants believed at least one of four widespread conspiracy theories about the virus. Moreover, when fact-checking did identify misinformation, the participants’ trust in social media showed a slight decrease. Based on these findings, our study proposes a comprehensive model for pandemic-related trust, misinformation, conspiracy theories, and fact-checking factors on digital platforms.https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/2165578covid-19 infodemicmisinformationconspiracy theoriesfact-checkingsocial mediakovid-19 infodemiyanliş bilgikomplo teorileriteyitsosyal medya |
| spellingShingle | Serdar Tunçer Mehmet Sinan Tam The COVID-19 Infodemic: Misinformation About Health on Social Media in Istanbul Türkiye İletişim Araştırmaları Dergisi covid-19 infodemic misinformation conspiracy theories fact-checking social media kovid-19 infodemi yanliş bilgi komplo teorileri teyit sosyal medya |
| title | The COVID-19 Infodemic: Misinformation About Health on Social Media in Istanbul |
| title_full | The COVID-19 Infodemic: Misinformation About Health on Social Media in Istanbul |
| title_fullStr | The COVID-19 Infodemic: Misinformation About Health on Social Media in Istanbul |
| title_full_unstemmed | The COVID-19 Infodemic: Misinformation About Health on Social Media in Istanbul |
| title_short | The COVID-19 Infodemic: Misinformation About Health on Social Media in Istanbul |
| title_sort | covid 19 infodemic misinformation about health on social media in istanbul |
| topic | covid-19 infodemic misinformation conspiracy theories fact-checking social media kovid-19 infodemi yanliş bilgi komplo teorileri teyit sosyal medya |
| url | https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/2165578 |
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