How in-U.S. Chinese college sudents consume Covid-19 information on social media: examining the relationship between media credibility and media dependency

In the 2019/2020 academic year, around 370,000 Chinese students studied at U.S. colleges and universities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, social media serve as an important channel for in-U.S. Chinese college students to learn about the pandemic-related news and information in both China and the United States. However, due to the wide circulation of misinformation on social media and the censored Chinese media system, the question remains whether in-U.S. Chinese students trust the social media platforms and information sources they depend on. This thesis seeks to answer this question by drawing upon the literature about media credibility and the Media System Dependency theory. Specifically, the study examines whether in-U.S. Chinese college students’ media dependency level can positively predict their perceived credibility level of different social media platforms and information sources within the platforms when consuming news related to COVID-19. Based on an online survey, this thesis found that in-U.S. Chinese students still depended mostly on WeChat, a Chinese social media platform, and perceived it most credible for consuming both Chinese and U.S. COVID-19 information. Despite their experience staying in the U.S., the Chinese students also largely depended on and trusted Chinese governmental and mainstream news media sources within the social media. In addition, media dependency levels could positively predict the perceived credibility level of all social media platforms and information sources. That is, in-U.S. Chinese students tend to trust the media and information sources they depend on. Theoretically, this thesis extends the previous literature about media dependency and credibility to social media and public health crisis contexts, further considering the different features and affordances of various social media platforms

Images Connect Us Together: Navigating a COVID-19 Local Outbreak in China Through Social Media Images

Social media images, curated or casual, have become a crucial component of communicating situational information and emotions during health crises. Despite its prevalence and significance in informational dissemination and emotional connection, there lacks a comprehensive understanding of visual crisis communication in the aftermath of a pandemic which is characterized by uncertain local situations and emotional fatigue. To fill this gap, this work collected 345,423 crisis-related posts and 65,376 original images during the Xi'an COVID-19 local outbreak in China, and adopted a mixed-methods approach to understanding themes, goals, and strategies of crisis imagery. Image clustering captured the diversity of visual themes during the outbreak, such as text images embedding authoritative guidelines and ``visual diaries'' recording and sharing the quarantine life. Through text classification of the post that visuals were situated in, we found that different visual themes highly correlated with the informational and emotional goals of the post text, such as adopting text images to convey the latest policies and sharing food images to express anxiety. We further unpacked nuanced strategies of crisis image use through inductive coding, such as signifying authority and triggering empathy. We discuss the opportunities and challenges of crisis imagery and provide design implications to facilitate effective visual crisis communication.Comment: 32 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction (CSCW 2024

Sentiment, richness, authority, and relevance model of information sharing during social Crises—the case of #MH370 tweets

The study introduces a model of crisis information sharing based on Twitter discussions of the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370. Grounded in the Elaboration Likelihood Model, the study tests four salient factors: Sentiment, Richness, Authority, and Relevance, which can be measured by peripheral cues in tweets and in user profiles. Findings suggest that information sharing is positively associated with the presence of peripheral cues indicative of a confident, self-revealing and positive emotional language style, and is negatively related to an angry and informal style. Additionally, information sharing is related to the presence of multimedia cues and cues indicating source popularity

Making the private public: Regulating content moderation under Chinese law

With the expansion of digital economy, tackling illegal online content is an increasingly challenging task. China implemented a dual-track legal mechanism on content moderation, whereby it exempts general monitoring obligations of intermediaries under private law while imposing monitoring obligations under public law. In recent years, major platforms exercise much stronger control over flow of information, regardless of more serious consequences that impact the fundamental rights of users. Meanwhile, a series of Chinese court rulings have shown that these divergent attitudes towards monitoring obligations under public and private law have given rise to legal conflicts that may deprive intermediaries of their legitimate immunity, undermining the stability and efficiency of the safe harbor rule. Furthermore, the lack of adequate legal safeguards against the risk of abusing automatic content filtering technology might transform the internet into a digital panopticon. To redraw boundaries between monitoring obligations under private and public law, future Chinese legislation should not only provide clearer clarification on the scope of monitoring, but also include a provision prohibiting general monitoring obligations in private law. To provide legal predictability for affected parties and flexibility for future technological developments, a Good Samaritan clause should be introduced in Cybersecurity Law by learning from the substance of Article 7 of the DSA

Credtwi:a research tool for social media credibility analysis

Abstract. In recent years, social media platforms have solidified their position as major information-sharing networks. People now also proactively look for information online and on social media for their everyday problems. There is a more sinister side to this development as well, as organizations and malevolent actors have taken the opportunity to spread false information and fake news online. For these reasons, it has become increasingly important to research the credibility of shared information. In this thesis, we designed and implemented a generalizable crowdsourcing research tool in the form of a browser plugin. Our tool, Credtwi, injects credibility questionnaires into the user’s Twitter feed. These customizable questionnaires are attached to each tweet. Utilizing Credtwi, we carried out a week-long field study where participants assessed the credibility of tweets on certain topics. Analysing these assessments and the accompanying onboarding and post-experiment questionnaires, we identified which elements affect the participants’ perceived credibility. These include factors such as the author’s verification status, the linked information source, and the author’s relevance to the topic. The participant’s perception of Twitter as an information source, in general, had lowered statistically significantly after using Credtwi for a week. Pulling together the results, the analysis, and the discussion at the end of this thesis, we contribute a timely piece of research to the domain of online content credibility. Further, we propose implications for crowdsourced credibility research with browser plugins including using a multi-dimensional credibility scale and adding cognitive load to the assessment process.Credtwi : tutkimus apuväline uskottavuuden analyysointiin sosiaalisessa mediassa. Tiivistelmä. Viime vuosina sosiaalisen median alustat ovat vakiinnuttaneet asemiaan merkittävinä tiedon jakamisverkostoina. Nykyään ihmiset myös ennakoivasti etsivät tietoa verkosta ja sosiaalisesta mediasta heidän jokapäiväisiin ongelmiinsa. Tähän kehitykseen liittyy myös pahaenteisempi puoli, kun organisaatiot ja pahantahtoiset toimijat ovat hyödyntäneet tämän mahdollisuuden levittääkseen valheellisia uutisia sekä tietoja verkossa. Näistä syistä on enenevässä määrin tärkeää tutkia jaetun tiedon uskottavuutta. Tässä diplomityössä suunnittelimme ja toteutimme joukkoustamistutkimus yleistyökalun selain lisäosan muodossa. Työkalumme, Credtwi, lisää kyselyitä uskottavuudesta käyttäjän Twitter syötteeseen. Nämä muokattavat kyselyt on yhdistettynä jokaiseen tviittiin. Credtwiä käyttäen toteutimme viikon pituisen kenttätutkimuksen, jossa osallistujat arvioivat valittujen aiheiden tviittien uskottavuutta. Näistä arvioista sekä alku- ja loppukyselyistä tunnistettiin mitkä elementit vaikuttavat havaittuun uskottavuuteen esimerkiksi tviitin kirjoittajan verifikaatio tila, linkitetty tiedonlähde sekä tviitin kirjoittajan asiaankuuluvuus aiheeseen. Osallistujien havaitsema uskottavuus Twitteristä yleisenä tiedonlähteenä laski tilastollisesti merkittävästi heidän käytettyään Credtwiä viikon ajan. Yhdistettynä tulokset, analyysit sekä loppukeskustelut edesautamme verkkosisällön uskottavuuden tutkimusalaa ajankohtaisella tutkimuksella. Lisäksi ehdotamme seuraamuksia tulevaisuuden joukkoustamistutkimuksiin, jotka hyödyntävät selain lisäosia. Näitä seuraamuksia ovat esimerkiksi moniulotteisen uskottavuusasteikon käyttö sekä kognitiivisen kuorman lisäys arviointiprosessiin

Believing the News: Exploring How Young Canadians Make Decisions About Their News Consumption

In the last two decades, the adoption of online and mobile news applications has drastically altered the practice of news consumption. Young news consumers, the first generation of digital natives, have seemingly unlimited options in news sources, styles, modalities, and stories; but with so many choices, it is unclear how these young people make decisions about what news to consume. It is also unclear how these consumers are coming to believe the news when it is being disseminated from so many platforms and sources. This study seeks to fill a gap in scholarship by exploring how young Canadians are making decisions about what news to consume and what news to believe. Through a series of focus groups, interviews, and diaries, the participants in this study report that they use factors like interest, source, and experience to decide if they will read or follow a story. Participants also identified reasons that they believe the news including factors like source, completeness, corroboration, quality, and personal logic (if it sounds or “feels” true). However, these study participants indicated that they use these factors in subjective sophisticated strategies based on learned methods, news beat, and experience to make further decisions about the news. This study resolves that though many young people identify social media as a “source” of news, it acts more as a gateway to mainstream news that is considered more trustworthy and believable

Systematic Literature Review on Driving Factors of COVID-19 Related Fake News Sharing on Social Media

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the news sharing behavior of social media users has exacerbated the proliferation of fake news, contributed to significant negative impacts on the public and society. This study aimed to explore the driving factors of COVID-19 related fake news sharing on social media and identify interventions to combat its dissemination. A systematic literature review under the guideline of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) was conducted using various databases, resulting in several key findings. Individual motivations such as information sharing, socialization, altruism, and self-promotion were identified as significant drivers of fake news sharing. Cognitive and emotional factors like trust in online information, perceived information overload, and social media exposure were also predictors of fake news sharing. Cultural and religious factors, as well as news content characteristics, were found to be correlated with COVID-19 fake news sharing. Facebook and WhatsApp emerged as the most commonly used platforms for sharing fake news. To address this issue, collaborative efforts are necessary involving individuals, social media platforms, technological institutions, governments, and public agencies. The study provides comprehensive insights into the driving factors behind COVID-19 related fake news sharing on social media and presents potential interventions to mitigate its spread. These findings can increase public awareness of the underlying reasons for fake news sharing and assist governments and public health institutions in devising strategies to handle fake news during future health crises

Health Misinformation in Search and Social Media

People increasingly rely on the Internet in order to search for and share health-related information. Indeed, searching for and sharing information about medical treatments are among the most frequent uses of online data. While this is a convenient and fast method to collect information, online sources may contain incorrect information that has the potential to cause harm, especially if people believe what they read without further research or professional medical advice. The goal of this thesis is to address the misinformation problem in two of the most commonly used online services: search engines and social media platforms. We examined how people use these platforms to search for and share health information. To achieve this, we designed controlled laboratory user studies and employed large-scale social media data analysis tools. The solutions proposed in this thesis can be used to build systems that better support people's health-related decisions. The techniques described in this thesis addressed online searching and social media sharing in the following manner. First, with respect to search engines, we aimed to determine the extent to which people can be influenced by search engine results when trying to learn about the efficacy of various medical treatments. We conducted a controlled laboratory study wherein we biased the search results towards either correct or incorrect information. We then asked participants to determine the efficacy of different medical treatments. Results showed that people were significantly influenced both positively and negatively by search results bias. More importantly, when the subjects were exposed to incorrect information, they made more incorrect decisions than when they had no interaction with the search results. Following from this work, we extended the study to gain insights into strategies people use during this decision-making process, via the think-aloud method. We found that, even with verbalization, people were strongly influenced by the search results bias. We also noted that people paid attention to what the majority states, authoritativeness, and content quality when evaluating online content. Understanding the effects of cognitive biases that can arise during online search is a complex undertaking because of the presence of unconscious biases (such as the search results ranking) that the think-aloud method fails to show. Moving to social media, we first proposed a solution to detect and track misinformation in social media. Using Zika as a case study, we developed a tool for tracking misinformation on Twitter. We collected 13 million tweets regarding the Zika outbreak and tracked rumors outlined by the World Health Organization and the Snopes fact-checking website. We incorporated health professionals, crowdsourcing, and machine learning to capture health-related rumors as well as clarification communications. In this way, we illustrated insights that the proposed tools provide into potentially harmful information on social media, allowing public health researchers and practitioners to respond with targeted and timely action. From identifying rumor-bearing tweets, we examined individuals on social media who are posting questionable health-related information, in particular those promoting cancer treatments that have been shown to be ineffective. Specifically, we studied 4,212 Twitter users who have posted about one of 139 ineffective ``treatments'' and compared them to a baseline of users generally interested in cancer. Considering features that capture user attributes, writing style, and sentiment, we built a classifier that is able to identify users prone to propagating such misinformation. This classifier achieved an accuracy of over 90%, providing a potential tool for public health officials to identify such individuals for preventive intervention

The quality of health parasocial opinion leaders on social media. A literature review

The growing popularity of social media usage has led to growing social media revolution capable of replacing traditional communication media. This landscape change not only helps individuals in communicating, searching for health information and thus sharing information on social media, but also promoting changes in the types and functions of health opinion leaders. Social media opinion leaders have more autonomy in determining content agenda and direction that they intend to convey to and share with their followers. Individuals now make decisions on health issues without relying entirely on the advice of doctors or professional bodies as they are also persuaded and influenced by the parties they deem trustworthy, including opinion leaders. Therefore, it is important for us to understand the process that these opinion leaders go through in creating health messages on social media and the quality of relationship they have with their followers. This paper will discuss past literature and research on the model of parasocial opinion leadership between health opinion leaders and their followers who use social media to communicate and consult on health issues and messages in the relationship process as well as to examine the issues and circumstances of health opinion leaders that exist on social media from the health perspective. 10 out of 545 articles have been identified for analytical purposes in tandem with the observed theme. The analyses of the studies illustrate a situation in which the characteristics of opinion leaders may influence the attitude and behaviour of the audience in health context. However, studies on the functions of health opinion leaders in social media are still lacking