Bai S, Wu W, Jiang M. Interaction between official institutions and influential users of rumor control in online social networks.
Front Psychol 2022;
13:937296. [PMID:
35983205 PMCID:
PMC9379133 DOI:
10.3389/fpsyg.2022.937296]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2022] [Accepted: 07/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Online interactions have become major channels for people to obtain and disseminate information during the new normal of COVID-19, which can also be a primary platform for rumor propagation. There are many complex psychological reasons for spreading rumors, but previous studies have not fully analyzed this problem from the perspective of the interaction between official institutions and influential users. The purpose of this study is to determine optimal strategies for official institutions considering the impact of two different influential user types (trolls and reputed personalities) by designing two game-theoretic models, namely "Rumor Clarification and Interaction Model" and "Rumor Verification and Interaction Model," which can, respectively decide whether to clarify and when to clarify. The results of this article show that clarification strategies can be decided according to the characteristics of rumors and the influential user's reactions. Meanwhile, publishing verified information prevents trolls' "loophole advantages" and prevents reputed personalities from spreading false information due to the vague authenticity of rumors. Results also show that the verification strategy is limited by cost, period, and verification index.
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