Echo Chamber Effect in Rumor Rebuttal Discussions About COVID-19 in China: Social Media Content and Network Analysis Study

Exploring rumor behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic through an information processing perspective: The moderating role of critical thinking

In the midst of the pervasive disruption caused by the proliferation of rumors, it is unclear how individuals react to such information. Guided by the SOR theory (Stimuli-Organism-Response), our study investigates the association between different information sources (stimuli), emotions experienced by individuals (organism), and resulting rumor behaviors such as sharing and refuting (response). Furthermore, we examine the moderating role of individual critical thinking in this process. Using the COVID-19 pandemic as a study scenario, we collected questionnaire data from 4588 respondents. Our results reveal a large positive association between pandemic-related information and feelings of fear. Additionally, a medium negative correlation between fear and rumor sharing was observed while a moderate positive correlation between fear and rumor refuting was identified. Moreover, we found that individual critical thinking abilities can effectively moderate the relationship between fear and online COVID-19-related information and strengthen the link between fear and rumor sharing while weakening the link between fear and rumor refuting. Additionally, our study indicates that an individual's fear plays a mediating role in the relationship between information sources and rumor behavior. Our findings shed light on the information processing mechanisms underlying rumor behaviors and yield practical and policy implications for managing them.

A systematic review of worldwide causal and correlational evidence on digital media and democracy

One of today's most controversial and consequential issues is whether the global uptake of digital media is causally related to a decline in democracy. We conducted a systematic review of causal and correlational evidence (N = 496 articles) on the link between digital media use and different political variables. Some associations, such as increasing political participation and information consumption, are likely to be beneficial for democracy and were often observed in autocracies and emerging democracies. Other associations, such as declining political trust, increasing populism and growing polarization, are likely to be detrimental to democracy and were more pronounced in established democracies. While the impact of digital media on political systems depends on the specific variable and system in question, several variables show clear directions of associations. The evidence calls for research efforts and vigilance by governments and civil societies to better understand, design and regulate the interplay of digital media and democracy.

Does Social Media Users' Interaction Influence the Formation of Echo Chambers? Social Network Analysis Based on Vaccine Video Comments on YouTube

The characteristics and influence of the echo chamber effect (TECE) of health misinformation diffusion on social media have been investigated by researchers, but the formation mechanism of TECE needs to be explored specifically and deeply. This research focuses on the influence of users' imitation, intergroup interaction, and reciprocity behavior on TECE based on the social contagion mechanism. A user comment-reply social network was constructed using the comments of a COVID-19 vaccine video on YouTube. The semantic similarity and Exponential Random Graph Model (ERGM) were used to calculate TECE and the effect of three interaction mechanisms on the echo chamber. The results show that there is a weak echo chamber effect (ECE) in the spread of misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine. The imitation and intergroup interaction behavior are positively related to TECE. Reciprocity has no significant influence on TECE.

Opinion leaders and Structural Hole Spanners Influencing Echo Chambers in Discussion about COVID-19 Vaccines on Social Media in China: Network Analysis (Preprint)

Background

Social media provide an ideal medium for breeding and reinforcing vaccine hesitancy, especially during public health emergencies. Algorithmic recommendation–based technology along with users’ selective exposure and group pressure lead to online echo chambers, causing inefficiency in vaccination promotion. Avoiding or breaking echo chambers largely relies on key users’ behavior.

Objective

With the ultimate goal of eliminating the impact of echo chambers related to vaccine hesitancy on social media during public health emergencies, the aim of this study was to develop a framework to quantify the echo chamber effect in users’ topic selection and attitude contagion about COVID-19 vaccines or vaccinations; detect online opinion leaders and structural hole spanners based on network attributes; and explore the relationships of their behavior patterns and network locations, as well as the relationships of network locations and impact on topic-based and attitude-based echo chambers.

Methods

We called the Sina Weibo application programming interface to crawl tweets related to the COVID-19 vaccine or vaccination and user information on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform. Adopting social network analysis, we examined the low echo chamber effect based on topics in representational networks of information, according to attitude in communication flow networks of users under different interactive mechanisms (retweeting, commenting). Statistical and visual analyses were used to characterize behavior patterns of key users (opinion leaders, structural hole spanners), and to explore their function in avoiding or breaking topic-based and attitude-based echo chambers.

Results

Users showed a low echo chamber effect in vaccine-related topic selection and attitude interaction. For the former, the homophily was more obvious in retweeting than in commenting, whereas the opposite trend was found for the latter. Speakers, replicators, and monologists tended to be opinion leaders, whereas common users, retweeters, and networkers tended to be structural hole spanners. Both leaders and spanners tended to be “bridgers” to disseminate diverse topics and communicate with users holding cross-cutting attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines. Moreover, users who tended to echo a single topic could bridge multiple attitudes, while users who focused on diverse topics also tended to serve as bridgers for different attitudes.

Conclusions

This study not only revealed a low echo chamber effect in vaccine hesitancy, but further elucidated the underlying reasons from the perspective of users, offering insights for research about the form, degree, and formation of echo chambers, along with depolarization, social capital, stakeholder theory, user portraits, dissemination pattern of topic, and sentiment. Therefore, this work can help to provide strategies for public health and public opinion managers to cooperate toward avoiding or correcting echo chamber chaos and effectively promoting online vaccine campaigns.

A Black Mirror of Bright Ideas: Could Media Educate towards Positive Creativity?

With the media’s omnipresence, beneficial and detrimental effects on human behavior—including creativity—are being widely discussed. This essay presents potential benefits of passive and active media use for enhancing creative thinking and behavior. Based on the classic socio-cognitive theory of observational learning and stressing the importance of creative self-beliefs, certain types of media content and activities are highlighted to demonstrate how traditional and modern media can shape positive creativity—contributing to novel and valuable behavior from both individual and social points of view. The discussion proceeds to link media influence with creative skills, creative self-beliefs, and group creativity, emphasizing the necessity of media education and systematic scientific research on the topic.

Factors influencing fake news rebuttal acceptance during the COVID-19 pandemic and the moderating effect of cognitive ability

Fake news is spreading rapidly on social media and poses a serious threat to the COVID-19 outbreak response. This study thus aims to reveal the factors influencing the acceptance of fake news rebuttals on Sina Weibo. Drawing on the elaboration likelihood model (ELM), we used text mining and the econometrics method to investigate the relationships among the central route (rebuttal's information readability and argument quality), peripheral route (rebuttal's source credibility, including authority and influence), and rebuttal acceptance, as well as the moderating effect of receiver's cognitive ability on these relationships. Our findings suggest that source authority had a negative effect on rebuttal acceptance, while source influence had a positive effect. Second, both information readability and argument quality had positive effects on rebuttal acceptance. In addition, individuals with low cognitive abilities relied more on source credibility and argument quality to accept rebuttals, while individuals with high cognitive abilities relied more on information readability. This study can provide decision support for practitioners to establish more effective fake news rebuttal strategies; it is especially valuable to reduce the negative impact of fake news related to major public health emergencies and safeguard the implementation of anti-epidemic strategies.

The Influence of the Debunker's Identity and Emotional Expression on the Sharing Behavior of Debunking Information

Owing to the proliferation of rumors on social media, it is necessary to disseminate debunking information to minimize the harm caused by them. Using content analysis, sentiment analysis, and regression analysis, this study examined the mediating role of follower count in the relationship between the debunker's identity and sharing behavior, and it explored the relationship between the text sentiment of debunking information and sharing behavior based on data on the spread of three rumors that circulated extensively on social media. Using an ordinary account as a reference, we found that the mediating or suppression effect (i.e., when direct and indirect effects are significant and opposite) of follower count in the relationship between debunker's identity (celebrity, media, or government) and sharing behavior was significant. The three test identities (celebrity, media, and government) had more followers than the ordinary account, which resulted in a significant positive effect on the number of reposts. The debunker's identity did not have a positive effect on the sharing of debunking information when controlling for mediating variables. Debunking information with emotional overtones (positive or negative) was shared more widely compared with information with neutral emotions, and the dominant emotional polarity was different in the three different rumors. These findings can contribute to the generation of debunking information content, which can aid in the development of effective communication strategies and improvement in the efficiency of crisis management.