Social Media and COVID-19 Rumors

Rumors and Social Networks

Why do people spread rumors? This paper studies the transmission of possibly false information—by rational agents who seek the truth. Unbiased agents earn payoffs when a collective decision is correct in that it matches the true state of the world. Biased agents desire a particular decision regardless of the true state. One agent possibly learns the true underlying state and chooses whether to ...

Rumors on Social Media in disasters: Extending Transmission to Retransmission

In recent years, the widespread use of social media has facilitated the propagation of messages after disasters. Unfortunately, because the veracity of messages is often difficult to determine in a disaster situation, social media also facilitates the rapid diffusion of rumors. Current studies have examined why individuals post or transmit rumors on social media. However, investigating factors ...

Assessment of the Mental Health Status of Social Media Users during the Outbreak of COVID-19

Background and Objectives: The sudden outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as a shock to the international community, especially global health policymakers, has affected millions of individuals. The current study aimed to investigate the mental health status of social media users during the outbreak of COVID-19 in Iran.   Methods: The present descriptive study was carried out on a t...

Social Distance in COVID-19 Pandemic and Older Adults Populations

    World Health Organization (WHO) data show higher vulnerable rates of COVID-19 among older adults especially in those with underlying diseases. WHO recommended particularly limitations of social communications for older adults so that control virus transmission among these vulnerable populations. Recommended restrictions included social distancing and stay at home (1). Social distancing is a...

How Rumors Spread and Stop over Social Media: a Multi-Layered Communication Model and Empirical Analysis