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Critical disinformation studies: History, power, and politics

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This essay advocates a critical approach to disinformation research that is grounded in history, culture, and politics, and centers questions of power and inequality. In the United States, identity, particularly race, plays a key role in the messages and strategies of disinformation producers and who disinformation and misinformation resonates with. Expanding what “counts” as disinformation demonstrates that disinformation is a primary media strategy that has been used in the U.S. to reproduce and reinforce white supremacy and hierarchies of power at the expense of populations that lack social, cultural, political, or economic power. 

Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, USA

Department of Communication, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, USA

A critical approach to disinformation

Disinformation has been a major scholarly and public area of concern since 2016, spurred by a resurgence of white, right-wing nationalism exemplified by Brexit and Trump’s presidential victory (Kreiss, 2021). The term “disinformation” refers to false or misleading information intentionally spread for profit, to create harm, or to advance political or ideological goals (Freelon & Wells, 2020). While this encompasses many information types, in public discourse disinformation is tied inextricably to social media and technology platforms, and often curiously depoliticized, framed as “polluting” or “infecting” an otherwise healthy information ecosystem. This framing disconnects disinformation from the broader politics of knowledge production and systems of power that undergird it; in other words, who benefits and why?

A great deal of research suggests that disinformation narratives build on and reify pre-existing ideologies, frequently involving race and inequality (Freelon et al., 2020; Nkonde et al., 2021; Ong, 2021). Identity-based hierarchies, particularly race, play a key role in the creation, spread, and uptake of disinformation narratives (Kreiss et al., 2020; Marwick et al., 2021). This essay explores how this body of scholarship is central to understanding key issues and debates in disinformation research, including polarization, media ecosystems, and relevant actors.

Drawing from principles established by the Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, we argue that analyses of disinformation are more effective when they include:

• Grounding disinformation studies in history, society, culture, and politics;
• Centering analyses of how social differentiation, such as race, gender, and class, shape dynamics of disinformation;
• Foregrounding questions of how institutional power and economic, social, cultural, and technological structures shape disinformation; and 
• Stating and maintaining explicit commitments to justice and equality.

By taking a historical and contextual view of disinformation, we argue that both the content and framing of disinformation reproduce  whiteness  in the United States. White supremacy is built upon assumptions that elevate and empower white perspectives as normal and standard. This assumption, referred to as  whiteness,  is not an individual racial identity, but a fundamental part of broader, historically rooted systems of power that privilege white perspectives (Ahmed 2007; Harris, 1993). When we ignore the  content  of disinformation and treat it as a mysterious and ineffable toxin, we cannot understand why it resonates, where it comes from, or how it spreads (e.g., del Vicario et al., 2016; Vosoughi et al., 2018). Characterizing disinformation as a toxin also assumes a shared, healthy information ecosystem, which ignores historical and ongoing ideological and political inequalities that center white viewpoints. Reframing “disinformation” from a problem of information pollution to a form of knowledge that is propagated and circulated requires addressing questions of power from “nonnormative” and “marginal” positions, such as queer or feminist of color communities (Cohen, 1997). 

Our commentary primarily uses examples in the United States and is written by U.S.-based scholars. However, a truly critical approach to disinformation studies must take into account that deliberately false information is culturally and politically specific; analytic concepts developed in the U.S. may limit our understanding and proposed solutions, as the forms of inequality leveraged and furthered by disinformation are deeply contextual (Marwick et al., 2021). 

(Re)Defining disinformation studies

The victory of Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election took elites by surprise. The popular theory that Trump won because he appealed to the economic anxieties of a “white working class” (Coontz, 2016; Frank, 2016) has been contested (Carnes & Lupu, 2021). Evidence suggests that Trump’s electoral college victory was instead due to his messaging to white voters that traditional white American economic, political, and social status was under threat (Mutz, 2018; Schaffner et al., 2018; Sides et al., 2018). Another set of explanations focuses on the role of mis- and disinformation on social platforms (Read, 2016; Solon, 2016). Many of these narratives imply that: 1) in the past everyone shared the same sense of what was true and false; 2) this shared understanding of knowledge was reinforced, if not established, by legacy media like newspapers and TV news; 3) “fake news,” disinformation, and inauthentic behavior on social platforms are responsible for a global shift to far-right populism. However, these assumptions do not paint a full picture of why and how disinformation propagates. Further, focusing intently on the present ignores and obscures the historical foundations of these shifts.  

First, positing a current crisis of fragmented “truth” due to technologically enabled polarization presumes that, prior to the advent of social platforms, the public agreed upon “facts” and “knowledge.” However, this ignores the role that legacy media has played in maintaining inequality. Historically, the white press portrayed Black people as dangerous criminals and justified and supported violence against Black communities (Staples, 2021). As Mejia et al. point out (2018), dominant U.S. politics have always relied on the existence of multiple realities. For instance, U.S. drug policy is predicated on a false “truth” of Black dealers spreading drugs to white communities, while the myth of Black “superpredators” in the 1990s justified an enormous expansion of the U.S. carceral system under Clinton (Duru, 2004). Spaces like the Black press presented alternative perspectives to white-dominant media, covering stories ignored by the white press and countering such racist depictions (Alamo-Pastrana & Hoynes, 2020, Staples, 2021). These examples of multiple racial realities exemplify how different forms of “truth” and knowledge have always co-existed with uneven impacts and values. 

Second, the “deep stories” and “deep frames”—the repetition of particular narratives and stereotypes—behind much of disinformation amplifies and bolsters pre-existing racist, misogynist, xenophobic, or transphobic tropes (Phillips & Milner, 2021; Polletta & Callahan, 2017). Like more traditional forms of news and politics, such narratives resonate with people precisely because they play on appeals to whiteness and other forms of structural power (Jardina, 2019; Kreiss et al., 2020; Peck, 2019). For example, Qanon conspiracy theories combine 1980s conservative “satanic panic” with centuries-old anti-Semitic tropes of “blood libel” (Hughes, 2017; Lavin, 2020) .  Fears of “migrant caravans” and dangerous undocumented immigrants play on white racial fears with deep historical roots to justify systemic racism (Flores-Yeffal et al., 2019). Such disinformation campaigns do not exist in a vacuum but are successful precisely because they are congruous with extant inequalities. 

Third, corporations, state actors, and politicians have always spread false and misleading narratives to achieve their ideological goals. This is not just a problem with social media platforms. For example, during the second Iraq War, the Bush administration claimed that Hussein’s regime had weapons of mass destruction, planted false stories about heroic U.S. soldiers in the mass media, and heavily limited critical coverage of war casualties and anti-war efforts (Kumar, 2006; Snow & Taylor, 2006). Given the Trump administration’s well-documented role in creating, spreading, and amplifying disinformation, it is important that scholarly and popular emphases on social platforms do not overlook these well-established precedents. Additionally, while legacy media institutions play an important role in criticizing government administrations, they can also spread state-sanctioned narratives. During World War II, for instance, the press served as the “guard dog” of the state, lending credence to the government’s claim that Japanese American citizens presented a security threat, and justifying mass incarceration and forced removal (Bishop, 2000). The media, U.S. military, and elected officials used euphemisms such as internment, relocation, and evacuation to distort and misrepresent this punitive injustice—which persist in contemporary textbooks and news sources to this day (Densho, 2021; Japanese American Citizens League, 2013). 

Examining the larger media ecosystem, including the role of broadcast media, can help us better understand sites of study within disinformation research, such as how fringe communities explicitly manipulate media to expose larger audiences to extremist viewpoints—a tactic known as “trading up the chain” (Marwick & Lewis, 2017 Friedberg & Donovan, 2020). Hyper-partisan media, in particular, often spreads disinformation narratives: Fox’s Sean Hannity repeated the conspiracy theory that Hillary Clinton’s campaign murdered Democratic staffer Seth Rich, and upstart conservative cable networks OANN, Newsmax, and Blaze heavily amplified the “Stop the Steal” movement (KhudaBukhsh et al., 2021). Focusing primarily on Facebook and Twitter ignores the role of other media forms and networks and the reality of how information circulates both on and offline (Feng & Tseng-Putterman, 2019; Pasquetto, 2020). 

Just as pinning Trump’s victory on “economic anxieties” makes it possible to ignore intersections of race and class and blame poor, working-class communities, disregarding the content   of disinformation makes it possible to ignore why   it succeeds. Instead, integrating cultural and historical approaches into the study of mis- and disinformation appeals to inequality as well as the political economy of social platforms that facilitates their spread. We begin by tracing how the powerful have historically used “knowledge” to establish, justify, and support racial inequality and colonialism. We then discuss the disproportionate and uneven harms of contemporary disinformation and conclude with recommendations and possibilities for future research. 

Racial and imperial histories of information

Knowledge and information production is an active process that is political, serving and benefitting specific interests. “Knowledge” and even “history” are produced by social and political actors and used to legitimize and validate social inequality (Almeida, 2015; Du Bois, 1935; Trouillot 1995). For instance, European imperial powers used images, speech, and text to reinforce who was “colonizer” and “colonized” and establish racial hierarchies, dehumanizing Indigenous peoples and delegitimizing Indigenous histories, knowledges, and societies (Tuhiwai-Smith, 1999). The West justified such practices by producing racist pseudoscience that naturalized colonial practices, set itself in a superior position of power, and justified the expansion of its empire (Said, 1978; Saranillio, 2018). 

Viewing disinformation through this lens of power and knowledge production illuminates how knowledge is used to justify racial divisions and structural inequality—both historically and in the present. Contemporary disinformation narratives propagate “old” racial and colonial tropes on new media using memes and hashtags (Flores-Yeffal, et al 2019; Tuters and Hagen, 2019). Repeatedly, disinformation is used to legitimate and rationalize violence. Incidents such as the January 6, 2021 white supremacist insurrection on the U.S. Capitol and mass shootings of people of color highlight the insidious, devastating real-world consequences of racist information (Fausset et al., 2021; Kreiss & McGregor 2021). Anti-Muslim conspiracy theories on Facebook India against Rohingya communities have included calls to violence, like those leading to the Rohingya genocide in Myanmar (Equality Labs, 2019). 

Viewing disinformation through a historical lens also demonstrates how, beyond explicitly malicious intent, disinformation narratives are frequently used by politicians to produce tacit public acceptance of policies instantiating inequality. For example, disinformation such as anti-Black, misogynistic and anti-poor stereotypes like the “welfare queen” and anti-immigrant narratives about “invaders’” taking away jobs and resources have accompanied huge reductions in public benefits (Covert, 2019). Common myths surrounding individual responsibility and economic uplift buttress welfare reform policies like the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, which left many people without adequate access to social safety nets (Cassiman, 2008). Racialized media tropes and portrayals play out in institutional spaces and systems, such as courtrooms, where dominant narratives of Black criminality are reproduced (Noble, 2014). For instance, media coverage of police shootings is heavily influenced by the perspectives of law enforcement (Adamson, 2016). Examining how contemporary disinformation is bound up with such longer histories highlights that information spreads and operates in ways that disproportionately harm already marginalized communities. 

Differential impacts of disinformation

Disinformation is fundamentally related to power. Many scholars have chronicled that uneven access to information has real, material impacts (Gibson and Martin, 2019; Perez & Dionisopoulos, 1995). The spread of mis- and disinformation within and about marginalized communities has similarly concrete impacts, which disproportionately fall on these communities and reify whiteness (Collins-Dexter, 2020; Nkonde et al., 2021; Ong, 2021). 

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that these processes have life-or-death stakes. Brandi Collins-Dexter (2020) points out that the disproportionate risk of death of Black people from COVID-19 is compounded by medical misinformation and conspiracies spreading in Black online spaces. She emphasizes that long-standing histories of trauma experienced by Black communities at the hands of media and government institutions create significant gaps in access to information and resources, exacerbated during moments of crisis. 

Racist disinformation spread during the pandemic also pivots on existing stereotypes. The Trump administration’s racist characterization of COVID-19 as “Kung Flu” and “Chinese Virus,” distorted information about “bat soup” in Wuhan, and characterization of Asian restaurants in the U.S. as ‘dirty’, all draw from long histories of xenophobic public health discourses coinciding with the racialized exclusion of Asians as “unwelcome,” “undesirable,” and “unfit” (Shah, 2001; Noel, 2020). Similarly, Islamophobic COVID-related disinformation, such as false claims of Muslims as “bioterrorists” spread by the hashtag #Coronajihad, leverages existing religious and caste hierarchies as well as the unequal distribution of power and access on digital platforms (Equality Labs, 2020). 

The Trump administration’s initial refusal to take the COVID-19 pandemic seriously, referring to it as a “hoax,” is eerily similar to the Reagan administration’s refusal to acknowledge AIDS, where government mismanagement and the racialization of responsibility worsened conditions for already vulnerable communities (Bhaman & Sabal, 2020). The AIDS epidemic exemplifies how disinformation spread by politicians and mainstream media is linked to discriminatory policies and resource distribution.

In 1986, the CDC announced the “four H’s” of HIV-risk: “hemophiliacs, heroin users, homosexuals, and Haitians”—these “four H’s” were not only misleading, but extremely harmful characterizations, leading to the detention of HIV-positive Haitian refugees in Guantanamo Bay. This criminalization of Haitian refugees as “dangerous” converged with the stigmatization of HIV/AIDS to sustain racially motivated migration policy rooted in both xenophobia and anti-Blackness. Historically, epidemiological narratives around HIV/AIDS center white, gay men, with people of color almost absent from the record and women excluded from diagnostic criteria until 1993 (Cheng, 2020). This obscured the crisis of welfare and resource distribution at the heart of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, where continued racial and socioeconomic inequalities blocked access to housing and healthcare. Activists and organizers created community projects, information networks, and public media spectacles to provide care and resources to their communities and combat the silencing and stigmatization furthered by government and mainstream media (Juhasz, 1995; Brier, 2009; McKinney, 2020). 

The erosion of public trust in institutions is deeply significant. While disinformation may contribute to a decline in public trust, different communities may have low levels of public trust due to historical and contemporary experiences with government and media institutions may have very good reasons to distrust government and media due to historical contexts. During the Cold War, for example, the U.S. spread propaganda spinning domestic race relations in a positive light to legitimize the war on communism and justify military intervention in Asia (Ziegler, 2015; Dudziak, 2011). Radical Black movements attempted to combat this propaganda by explicitly challenging U.S. racial violence at home and abroad, which was considered so threatening that the state created the FBI COINTELPRO program to police activist groups (Frazier, 2014; Lieberman, 2014; Ziegler, 2015). These histories connect with uneven forms of political suppression that continue today, such as disinformation campaigns that strategically target Black voters to maintain hegemonic power (Worland, 2020). 

Recommendations and looking forward 

The different examples in this essay illustrate the histories and contexts in which power, politics, and information converge and how structural power is reproduced and reinforced   across institutions. They offer entry points to studying disinformation that focus on the knowledge, experiences, and practices of groups who historically and currently bear the brunt of being targeted and oppressed by mis- and disinformation and propaganda campaigns. In doing so, these approaches may help us better evaluate potential interventions and solutions. 

First, countering mis- and disinformation goes beyond solutions like “fact checking” or “media literacy” which place responsibility on individuals to become informed media consumers. In one devastating example, QAnon groups already assess and evaluate information validity and quality to defend, promote, and spread conspiracy theories (Marwick & Partin, 2020). Similarly, online search, which is frequently used to assess information accuracy, is by no means neutral (Tripodi, 2018). In fact, it can lead to deadly results, as seen with Dylann Roof, the perpetrator of a mass shooting at a Black church in Charleston, South Carolina, whose Google search for “black on white crime” resulted in white supremacist propaganda (Noble, 2017). Rather than focusing on individual actions around information literacy and consumption, it may be more productive to examine the power structures that facilitate disinformation’s spread, such as large technology companies, state actors, and media and information systems (McMillan Cottom, 2020). 

Second, technology did not create the problem of disinformation and technical solutions alone are not the answer, especially as they can exacerbate existing harms (Tufekci, 2019; Washington & Kuo, 2020). For example, technical attempts to “counter violent extremism” or “end radicalization” expand racialized criminalization (Kundnani, 2014; Nguyen, 2019). As Moustafa Bayoumi (2015) points out, information infrastructures built after 9/11 to “counter terrorism” target Muslims, leveraging racialized narratives of terrorism to justify increasing national security apparatuses and war abroad. Importantly, the digital space in which online mis- and disinformation circulates connects to on-the-ground lived experiences. Examining how systems of power operate can help us better understand the interplay between technological solutions and broader cultural and social forces. 

Finally, the continued proliferation of white supremacy and global ethno-nationalism must be seen as a global problem, not the product of a few “bad actors” and malicious information spread on social media. As we discussed above, these problems are rooted in long histories that require us to trace multiple tendrils of power. The histories of welfare reform and the HIV/AIDS epidemic, for example, offer analysis of how misinformation is connected to inequalities in healthcare and social benefits. Grassroots groups and community-based organizations may serve as models for campaigns that are working not only to disrupt mis- and disinformation through political education, but also to mobilize concrete demands that address broader social conditions of inequality. For instance, Equality Labs, which works within South Asian diasporic communities, has conducted independent research on Islamophobic information spread on Facebook and created multilingual health guides as part of their broader work to dismantle caste and religious hierarchies (2019).

Future interdisciplinary research in critical disinformation studies might bring areas such as history and political economy to the contemporary study of information and platforms (Abhishek, 2021). To strengthen analysis through multi-modal forms of inquiry, we see the possibilities in connecting quantitative research to critical ethnic studies, feminist studies, and science and technology studies, where the politics of knowledge production have been a long-standing site of inquiry (see Chakravartty et al., 2018; Chakravartty & Jackson, 2020; Kilgo & Mourão, 2021). We also look to transnational approaches to disinformation that take into consideration cross-cutting geopolitical formations and imperial histories. Such forms of research inquiry have broader political stakes and commitments to social justice and undoing and redressing white supremacy. 

Through centering questions of power and grounding inquiry in historical contexts and social difference, a critical approach to disinformation can inform transformational possibilities and address uneven dynamics of power in our digital landscape. 

This essay is complementary to  Critical Disinformation Studies: A Syllabus  developed by the authors, Shanice Jones Cameron and Moira Weigel, with support from the Center for Information, Technology, & Public Life (CITAP), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

• Disinformation
• / Education

Cite this Essay

Kuo, R., & Marwick, A. (2021). Critical disinformation studies: History, power, and politics. Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Misinformation Review . https://doi.org/10.37016/mr-2020-76

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Media and Information Literacy, a critical approach to literacy in the digital world

What does it mean to be literate in the 21 st century? On the celebration of the International Literacy Day (8 September), people’s attention is drawn to the kind of literacy skills we need to navigate the increasingly digitally mediated societies.

Stakeholders around the world are gradually embracing an expanded definition for literacy, going beyond the ability to write, read and understand words. Media and Information Literacy (MIL) emphasizes a critical approach to literacy. MIL recognizes that people are learning in the classroom as well as outside of the classroom through information, media and technological platforms. It enables people to question critically what they have read, heard and learned.

As a composite concept proposed by UNESCO in 2007, MIL covers all competencies related to information literacy and media literacy that also include digital or technological literacy. Ms Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO has reiterated significance of MIL in this media and information landscape: “Media and information literacy has never been so vital, to build trust in information and knowledge at a time when notions of ‘truth’ have been challenged.”

MIL focuses on different and intersecting competencies to transform people’s interaction with information and learning environments online and offline. MIL includes competencies to search, critically evaluate, use and contribute information and media content wisely; knowledge of how to manage one’s rights online; understanding how to combat online hate speech and cyberbullying; understanding of the ethical issues surrounding the access and use of information; and engagement with media and ICTs to promote equality, free expression and tolerance, intercultural/interreligious dialogue, peace, etc. MIL is a nexus of human rights of which literacy is a primary right.

Learning through social media

In today’s 21 st century societies, it is necessary that all peoples acquire MIL competencies (knowledge, skills and attitude). Media and Information Literacy is for all, it is an integral part of education for all. Yet we cannot neglect to recognize that children and youth are at the heart of this need. Data shows that 70% of young people around the world are online. This means that the Internet, and social media in particular, should be seen as an opportunity for learning and can be used as a tool for the new forms of literacy.

The Policy Brief by UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education, “Social Media for Learning by Means of ICT” underlines this potential of social media to “engage students on immediate and contextual concerns, such as current events, social activities and prospective employment.

UNESCO MIL CLICKS - To think critically and click wisely

For this reason, UNESCO initiated a social media innovation on Media and Information Literacy, MIL CLICKS (Media and Information Literacy: Critical-thinking, Creativity, Literacy, Intercultural, Citizenship, Knowledge and Sustainability).

MIL CLICKS is a way for people to acquire MIL competencies in their normal, day-to-day use of the Internet and social media. To think critically and click wisely. This is an unstructured approach, non-formal way of learning, using organic methods in an online environment of play, connecting and socializing.  

MIL as a tool for sustainable development

In the global, sustainable context, MIL competencies are indispensable to the critical understanding and engagement in development of democratic participation, sustainable societies, building trust in media, good governance and peacebuilding. A recent UNESCO publication described the high relevance of MIL for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“Citizen's engagement in open development in connection with the SDGs are mediated by media and information providers including those on the Internet, as well as by their level of media and information literacy. It is on this basis that UNESCO, as part of its comprehensive MIL programme, has set up a MOOC on MIL,” says Alton Grizzle, UNESCO Programme Specialist. 

UNESCO’s comprehensive MIL programme

UNESCO has been continuously developing MIL programme that has many aspects. MIL policies and strategies are needed and should be dovetailed with existing education, media, ICT, information, youth and culture policies.

The first step on this road from policy to action is to increase the number of MIL teachers and educators in formal and non-formal educational setting. This is why UNESCO has prepared a model Media and Information Literacy Curriculum for Teachers , which has been designed in an international context, through an all-inclusive, non-prescriptive approach and with adaptation in mind.

The mass media and information intermediaries can all assist in ensuring the permanence of MIL issues in the public. They can also highly contribute to all citizens in receiving information and media competencies. Guideline for Broadcasters on Promoting User-generated Content and Media and Information Literacy , prepared by UNESCO and the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association offers some insight in this direction.

UNESCO will be highlighting the need to build bridges between learning in the classroom and learning outside of the classroom through MIL at the Global MIL Week 2017 . Global MIL Week will be celebrated globally from 25 October to 5 November 2017 under the theme: “Media and Information Literacy in Critical Times: Re-imagining Ways of Learning and Information Environments”. The Global MIL Feature Conference will be held in Jamaica under the same theme from 24 to 27 October 2017, at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston, hosted by The University of the West Indies (UWI).

Alton Grizzle , Programme Specialist – Media Development and Society Section

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Chapter 9: Media and Information Literacy

Oreva had nearly two dozen tabs up, showing various websites, videos, and journal articles on her research topic. At first, she was excited by all the information she was findings on the Mali Empire, a Western African Kingdom that flourished from about 1200 to 1600 ADE, that she wanted to present her informative speech on for class. However, as the night deepened, and it dawned on her that she might be pulling an all-nighter at the library, she became more and more despondent. Now, she just listlessly clicked from tab to tab, unable to concentrate on any source for long because there was just so much to read on the topic. A hand on her should startled her out of her reverie: “Hey, are you okay,” said a woman with glasses and brown hair, standing behind her and looking over her shoulder. “Wow, it looks like you have quite a lot of work ahead!” “ Tsh -yeah,” Oreva grumped. “I’m going to be here all night at this rate.” “Do you know how you’re going to organize all of those sources? Do you have some system?” “If you mean, ‘Do I have enough coffee to stay awake all night reading’ then yes,” Orevea joked. “Nah, I mean an actual system , ” the woman laughed. “Do you mind if I gave you some tips? ” “ Sure , but why are you being so helpful? To I look that clueless? ” Oreva asked. “ Oh goodness, no , ” the person reassured . “ I’m sorry, I should have introduced myself. My name’s Rebecca and I’m a research librarian. I’m here to help!”

Have you faced the same trouble as Oreva when looking for credible information? On the surface, it seems like it has never been easier to find material on any topic, whether on politics, fashion, science, relationships, or culture. To get this information, most people turn to search engines. Google search is the most used search engine on the internet, constituting nearly 92% of search engine market and processing nearly 9 billion requests per day (Mohsin, 2023). Although Google is an amazingly efficient search engine, as we talked about in Chapter Eight, it is a webcrawler program —meaning it picks up anything on the web that it detects is similar to your search keywords as well as other considerations such as advertisements and traffic. As such, search engines such as Google , Bing , Yahoo , or DuckDuckGo do not, and cannot, evaluate whether the information your search gets is necessarily factual, reliable, or credible, only what is related or paid for.

Another way that many people get their information from is their preferred social media platform. As Walker and Matsa (2021) found, Facebook still has the largest share of U.S. Americans who get their news from that platform (31%). However, for adults between 18-29, the preferred platforms are Snapchat (63%), TikTok (52%), Reddit (44%), and Instagram (44%) (Walker & Matsa, 2021). Collectively, approximately 79% of U.S. Americans reported getting news through social media websites. Much like the Google search engine, these searches may lead you to what is viral, popular, or trending, but not necessarily what is factual. Social media platforms also inhabit a grey area in media laws—on one hand they are not content producers of the news and have little legal obligation to ensure what is shown on their platform is credible information. On the other hand, they have enormous influence on how people interact with the news because it is the primary way people do engage with media content. Some social media companies have tried to—with varying degrees of success and effort—to combat misinformation , but since their revenue is advertisement generated, they have a monetary incentive to push information that promotes engagement (no matter the reason) not facts.

Unfortunately, there are many bad actors who take advantage of this weakness in search engines or social media platforms. For example, China’s “ Great Fire Wall ” serves to keep out content produced outside of their country while its 50 Cent Army (or wǔmáodǎng) amplifies pro-China propaganda abroad. Russia’s Internet Research Agency is a well-known troll-farm, spreading disinformation and propaganda in an effort to increase tensions, unrest, and dysfunction within enemy countries (including the United States) (Craig Silverman, 2023) while cracking down on Western internet traffic as it pursues its unjust war against Ukraine (Bandurski, 2022). Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter , has cut down on Twitter’s infrastructure to identify, track, and remove untrue, malicious, and unsubstantiated content (Drapkin, 2023) while Facebook has banned university professors studying the spread of disinformation on its platform (Bond, 2021). Entire platforms, such as The Parlor , Truth Social , 4Chan , and 8Kun pride themselves on having little or no content moderation, allowing users to spread everything from targeted hate campaigns to weird or malicious conspiracy theories such as QAnon .

Social media influencers use their vast networks to sell their products, generate advertisement revenue, and run morally and legally dubious operations, such as Stephen Crowder, Gwyneth Paltrow, or Andrew Tate. All of these problems, and more, are even more frightening in the context of research that has found that the top false news traveled through social networks faster and reach approximately 100 times more people than true news (Vosoughi et al., 2018). Your responsibility, as a content consumer and producer, is to make sure that you can identify, avoid, and create information that is rigorously made and vetted. In a democratic society, people make decisions, and their decisions can only be as good as the information they have to inform them. Spreading or consuming bad information (whether intentionally or not) makes it impossible to come to the best decisions for laws or policies for our communities.

Vetting Sources

The challenge of today is not finding information—it’s finding good information. Unfortunately, most people do not develop their information literacy skills and, instead, rely on mental shortcuts to make their decisions. For example, McGeough and Rudick (2018) found that students in public speaking classes made appeals to authority (e.g., “I found it in the library so it must be credible”), appeals to form/style (e.g., “The article was professionally formatted and in a print newspaper so I thought it was reliable”), appeals to popularity (e.g., “A lot of people use this source so it must be good”), and appeals to their own beliefs (e.g., “I am pro-guns and 2 nd Amendment, so I searched for information on ‘problems with gun control’”) when making their presentations. There are many reasons people rely on these shortcuts—lack of formal education, time constraints, stress, or unwillingness to develop ideas that are contrary to their important social groups (e.g., their religion or family). These shortcuts can influence how you vet, read, and use information for your presentations. Many times, students make decisions to choose their information sources because they have limited time (e.g., waiting until the night before an assignment is due) and cognitive bandwidth (e.g., they are stressed due to other class’s demands on time and attention). However, now is the time to develop these skills. If you do not know how to identify or create factual content, then you are more likely to make information choices based on convenience instead of rigor.

In this section, we offer one way that you can start to develop a stronger set of information literacy skills. We wish to be clear—this is not the only way to vet information, nor should this be the end of your journey on being a better information consumer or producer. You will need to routinely practice, revise, and update your skills. Doing so is especially important because internet trolls, online scammers, predatory corporations, and malicious governments are constantly updating their strategies for spreading misinformation and disinformation. Here, we’ll use the information literacy program SIFT to offer some guidance on vetting your sources (Caufield, 2017), informed by the best practices of the Association of College and Research Libraries .

The SIFT method has been found to an excellent way for students to begin learning information literacy skills because it encourages lateral reading (Brodsky et al., 2021). SIFT includes four moves: stop, investigate the source, find trusted coverage, and trace back to the original.

Before you even begin searching the Internet for information, STOP. What is your research purpose (e.g., to persuade, inform, or motivate)? What are you trying to do with the information you are looking at? Are you being open to competing or opposing viewpoints or have you searched using keywords that will automatically limit what kind of information you are going to get? Often, novice searchers have a vague idea of what they are looking for and then land on the first source that seems to connect to their topic. If you search this way, you are likely to land on information that has a particular viewpoint and then find yourself over focusing on it and excluding other information. Worst case scenario, you may find yourself in an echo chamber regardless of the credibility of information. Next, once you have found a source or a series of sources, STOP. Do you already think this source is credible, and if so, why? Relying on it because it is the first result of a search or because it agrees with your beliefs are poor reasons for relying on it. If you don’t know if it is credible or not, what criteria will you use to ascertain whether the source is worthwhile? Here, you should look at the reputation of the outlet (e.g., the news media corporation, academic journal, social media content producer, or individual expert or witness). Do they have a history of truth telling? Or, maybe they only have a history of reporting information that already affirms your beliefs or discounts/ignores competing views. If you don’t know if the source has a history of disseminating credible information, then you need to execute the next moves to ascertain its reliability.

Investigate the Source

If you have encountered a source that you never have before and/or if you don’t know if it is reputable or not, then you need to do some research on the outlet and/or author. What is their expertise and agenda? For example, many non-profit policy organizations such as the Heartland Institute , Heritage Institute , Cato Institute , Americans for Tax Reform , and the Family Research Council receive millions of dollars in donations from tobacco, oil, and gas industries or conservative religious groups. As result, a great deal of their policy downplays the harms of smoking cigarettes, hydraulic fracturing (i.e., fracking), climate change, and/or attacks LGBTQ rights and families. Many people might believe these are reputable sources because they are .org sites instead of .com sites, but .org simply means that it is an organization—there is no obligation on the part of that organization to give better information due to its .org status. This is not to say you should never visit these sources. There might be a need to know what a problem is or why it hasn’t been solved yet, and going to sources that promulgate bad information is a way to trace how untrue, harmful, or hateful content can negatively affect decision-making about a variety of issues. However, sources that are biased because of politics, faith, money, advertisement, or personal relationships must be approached with caution. By figuring out not just what a source says, but why it says it and who benefits from its advocacy, you can be a better content producer and consumer for your community.

Find Trusted Coverage

Next, is their advocacy in line with other outlets and, if not, why? That is, you should go to websites that offer information on the same topic to see if there is broad consensus or disagreement about the topic. For example, maybe the source you are using is older than a more recent source, indicating that knowledge in this field has changed. Or, the author has a fringe or minority view within a field that has broad consensus about an issue. To be clear, we are not saying that information that is generally agreed upon is always correct. However, when there is broad agreement on a topic then it requires a greater burden of proof for those who advocate against the established position. For example, NASA reports that approximately 97 percent of scientists agree that climate change is occurring, is affected by human pollution, and will negatively affect people around the world. But, don’t just take NASA’s word for it— The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change , the United Nations , World Health Organization , and hundreds of other governmental, corporate, non-profit, and academic sources agree on these propositions. To disagree with this, a person would need to demonstrate climate change is not occurring, that if it is occurring humans aren’t the cause for it, and/or that climate change will not harm people— an extremely high burden of proof given the number of sources that agree these things will occur or are occurring. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence and refuting generally agreed on propositions is considered an extraordinary claim. All-too-often, people promote misinformation or disinformation by claiming to have insider knowledge that “they” (i.e., Big Government , Big Pharma , the Illuminati , the Lizard People , etc.) don’t want you to have. This type of discourse is especially useful on U.S. Americans because, culturally, most of our media and history is shaped by the idea that brave truth-tellers, patriots, or morally clear-eyed individuals are often a lone voice against a throng of the evil and ignorant. However, it is important to remember that real-life decisions should be based on facts and facts are something that can and should be agreed to and recognized by the majority of experts on a given topic (no, your uncle posting bad memes information from FreedomEagle.net/ patriotsforcoal is not an expert!). Those who cannot meet this burden of evidence only use this cultural idea to hide the fact that they simply cannot meet the evidential burden of their position and do not want you to draw on other sources that might disagree with their analysis.

Trace the Original

Finding the original source of information is more and more important as it becomes easier to share content and information across the Internet and social media. For example, in response to a medical study, news outlets reported: “Silent, not deadly; how farts cure diseases” (Burnett, 2018), “Sniffing your partners’ farts could help ward off disease” (Sun, 2017), and “Scientists say sniffing farts could prevent cancer” (UPI, 2014). However, tracing their claims to the original study reveals a much different picture. The study (Le Trionnaire, 2014) showed how hydrogen sulfide, compound associated with (among other things) the disgusting smell of rotten eggs or human flatulence, may be delivered to the mitochondria of cells to as a way to fight disease and cancer. The study did not say farts cured disease or cancer or even that the compound hydrogen sulfide did; rather, the report made the more limited claim that the compound may be used as a tool in fighting disease and cancer and its efficacy is promising. Pictures, video clips, tweets, reactions, and even (as we see in this example) full medical studies can be condensed into clickbait titles that are meant to provoke anger, frustration, laughter, or sadness—because in the world of social media algorithms all of those emotions translate into engagement which means more advertisement dollars. You must be able to trace information to its original source and then evaluate whether the information that you have read is accurately reported and credible. Otherwise, you may find yourself sniffing farts for no reason!

It is important to remember that no one, single study, article, podcast, or YouTube video proves or disproves anything. Rather, it is only in reading laterally multiple sources or studies published over years that a clearer picture of credible information emerges. Using SIFT, you can begin to develop the skills that allow you to see information claims as part of a wider network of efforts moving from ignorance to knowledge. For example, the non-profit group Center for Scientific Integrity that tracks retracted academic articles (i.e., articles that have been published but later removed because of research misconduct or fabrication) shows how some scholars have abused their responsibilities as researchers. In one case, Yoshitaka Fuji, a Japanese researcher in anesthesiology and ophthalmology, was forced to retract 183 published papers (Stromberg, 2015)!

On one hand, it is chilling to know how long Fuji was able to elude detection. On the other hand, catching errors (whether intentionally made or not) is exactly why scholars engage in lateral reading. Researchers may review the findings of a study against other studies to see if their findings agree with past work or conduct the same tests to see if they get approximately the same result. If they don’t, then it raises questions about the surety of the previous study’s claims, inviting scrutiny and changing knowledge claims as more evidence supports or doesn’t the original study—which is ultimately how Fuji’s research was found to be fraudulent.

All of this is to say, there is no magic bullet, no one good type of source that will ensure that you have good information. It is a constant practice and one that encourages you to not take mental shortcuts. Working to make sure you are informed, demanding that your sources provide factual information, and informing others with high quality information are the only ways that all of us live in a healthy information ecosystem. As the old saying warns, “Garbage in, garbage out,” or, when you consume bad information, you’ll likely produce bad decisions or conclusions. So, don’t settle for garbage!

Reading Journal Articles

You’ve found a variety of sources, used SIFT to test them, and feel confident that they offer a clear picture of the side or sides of an issue. Great! But, as you begin trying to read the journal articles, you find them to be incredibly dense and difficult to get through. Don’t worry—this is a common problem experienced by novice researchers. We find that one of the challenges of reading research articles is that novice researchers try to read the entire article from start to finish to ascertain if it is worth using or vetting. We wish to be clear—not all journal articles follow the format guidelines we explain here. Some articles are opinion pieces, reviews of books, arguments with fellow researchers, or creative pieces that aren’t easily captured in the type of organization we outline here. Therefore, we implore you to go beyond the advice we give here and develop a wide set of tools for reading a variety of research articles.

However, we do believe this approach to reading articles a great place to start and can provide the foundation for being a good researcher. Therefore, we encourage you to follow this order of reading your articles as you begin researching so you can reduce your time searching for articles, increase your comprehension, and utilize the most valuable knowledge in the manuscript. As you develop as a researcher in your area of study, you will most likely need to develop new skills until you reach mastery in your subject.

Title/Abstract

The title of a research article will contain the major concepts, ideas, theories, method of analysis, or insights from the study. For example, the study “ Highlighting the intersectional experiences of students of color: A mixed methods examination of instructor (mis)behavior ” by Vallade et al. (2023) describes the research participants (i.e., students of color), major concepts (i.e., intersectional experiences and instructor (mis)behaviors), and research methodology (i.e., mix-methods or a combination of quantitative and qualitative research). You should also read the study’s abstract, which appears on the first page of the article. The abstract is usually a 100–300-word outline of the study’s purpose, relevant literature, research method/design, major findings, and implications. By reading the title/abstract, you can get a good idea on whether the article connects to the topic you are studying or not. If not, go onto the next article and read its title and abstract. If so, then you need to proceed to the next step.

Introduction

The introduction of the article is usually not notated or labeled as such. Rather, it is simply the first part of the article, which proceeds from the very start to the first major section heading of the article. The introduction of the article should detail the research purpose, which usually contains two elements. The first is the ‘practical’ issue or the actual challenge, issue, or topic the article responds to. This information lets the reader know what problems they will be able to solve or mitigate by finding out what the researchers found. The second, is the ‘theoretical’ issue, which details the academic questions or gaps that the study tries to address. This content shows the reader how the researchers are building on past scholarship in this area and justifying the need for the present study.

Literature Review

The final section you should read is the literature review. Sometimes the literature review is named ‘Literature Review,’ but often it is not explicitly named. Instead, it is understood that the first major section heading after the introduction is the beginning of the literature review. The purpose of the literature review is to provide a summarization of all the past research that has been conducted in the past about the topic. The literature review should also show how the current research is meaningfully building on that information and should end with the hypotheses or research questions that the study will address. Remember, you should rarely, if ever, cite work from the literature review. Rather, when you find any important information you find in this section, you should find the literature being cited in the reference section and go read that particular study or source.

The method section will describe who (e.g., the participants and their demographic information) or what (e.g., the documents, speeches, or content) they got data from. It will also detail what procedures were used to gather data (e.g., surveys or interviews) or texts (e.g., documents, speeches, or content). For example, in a statistical report, it will show what survey instruments were used and how reliable they have been in past studies as a way to justifying their use in the present study. Finally, the section will detail how the researchers analyzed the data in order to come up with new insights. This could be the author or author team’s explication of their statistical procedures used to test a hypothesis. The method section is important to examine because even if the results and discussion are important, if the method section shows a poorly designed research project, then those insights showed be read with extreme caution.

Results/ Discussion

Now you are going to skip everything between the introduction and the section labeled ‘Results’ or ‘Findings’ and ‘Discussion’ or ‘Implications’ in the article. Novice researchers often think that the whole research article is something that can be cited from. However, information in the introduction, literature review, or method sections is often a summary of past research or information on the topic. In other words, it a secondary source, since you are relying on the author of the present article to understand and convey the information from past studies to you. The information in the results section should be the statistical tests, interview excerpts, or other information that is produced through the application of the research method. The discussion section should summarize what the findings or results of the research article were as well as detail (or, discuss) the implications of the study for the production of knowledge on the topic. Much like the introduction, the discussion will most likely explain the ‘practical’ and ‘theoretical’ implications of the study. In other words, it will describe how the knowledge produced through the research should inform peoples’ actions as they try to address the problems the research responds to (practical) as well as make a case for how it extends or challenges the existing research in that area for future researchers to build on in their own work (theoretical). The information in the article that is new, or is a primary source, is the information in the results and discussion. Therefore, if you find something in the literature review that is helpful, important, or worth noting, you should go to the reference list, find the source, and read the original source so you can cite it in your own work. If you don’t, and you cite information from the literature review in your own work, this is a form of academic dishonesty because you never actually read the original source.

We admit, sometimes research writing is needlessly difficult to read. We remember the first time we read an article that stated, “Due to the established lacunae in the field…” and were intimidated by the word “lacunae.” What does it mean? How important is it? It sounds so daunting! Lacunae, however, just means “gaps” or “holes.” The author, in establishing that there are missing answers to questions that were important to their field of study, used a word that immediately caused consternation and confusion from their audience. This word choice is an example bad writing because it needlessly confuses their audience, which should always be avoided! However, sometimes, technical jargon is necessary. The difference between a vein or artery, mitochondrion or ribosomes, verb or adjective, or discourse and rhetoric are important distinctions within their respective fields of study.

Often, we find that novice researchers, when encountering a new or unfamiliar word, just pass over the word in their reading and don’t use dictionaries to look it up because they: A) aren’t motivated to; or B) they feel like doing so is an admission of ignorance. However, if you wish to be able to consume and vet knowledge from a source, you will need to be able to understand what is written and that burden, ultimately, falls on you (the reader) to do the work to figure it out. Passing over a word, whether due to laziness or anxiety, robs you of a chance to grow your knowledge on a subject and eliminates the possibility that you can use or refute the information in a meaningful way.

Verbal and In-Text Ways to Cite Sources

After you have found a wide range of sources on the topic, winnowed them down to the ones that are the most reliable and credible, and mined them for information regarding your topic, it is time to put them in your speech or writing. We find that citing information can be some of the most anxiety producing work that students do. Often, they report getting incomplete, conflicting, or erroneous information about citing sources. As a result, many students put little effort into their citation practices because they think, “I’m going to get it wrong anyway, so why try?”

Conversely, some students rely solely on computer apps, such as EasyBib , BibTex , or Bib I t Now to do their citations for them. Relying on apps doesn’t build your information literacy skills. Doing so means you never bothered to learn how to do it correctly since there was an app that you thought would do it for you and, therefore, you won’t be able to tell if the program is producing a correct citation or not. As we’ll see later, these programs often incorrectly cite work. In short, you need to learn how to properly cite materials and practice those skills.

We cannot stress enough that properly citing your sources is an incredibly important practice in your work. Not only does it ensure that you are sharing information with others in a responsible way by letting them know where you got your information from, it also increases your credibility with your audience because they recognize your effort to keep them fully informed. Citation guides provide standardized system for reporting your sources so that your listeners or readers know exactly how and where to find your sources. There are a variety of ways to cite your information for your audience, but in this chapter, we’ll focus on the two most common styles: the American Psychological Association (APA) style guide and the Modern Language Society (MLA) handbook.

Verbal Citation

When giving a presentation, you need to verbally cite your sources so your audience can ascertain the quality of your sources. Failing to do so can make your audience to doubt or disagree with the content of your speech even if your information is correct. To avoid this, you need to verbally cite your sources in a way that supports your work while not being overly cumbersome to your speech and interrupting your flow. We suggest you use three pieces of information every time you cite something verbally: Name of Source , Credibility Statement of Source , Year of Publication . Here are a few examples of what you might say:

Dr. McGeough, who is a leading researcher in ancient Greek rhetorical philosophy, argued in a 2023 research article that…

In 2022, the World Health Organization, an internationally renowned inter-governmental body that studies health and medicine, reported…

In a research study spanning from 2015 to 2020, the internationally recognized data scientists at the Pew Research Center tracked voting habits of various groups and found…

Do you see the Name of Source , Credibility Statement of Source , Year of Publication in each of the examples? Although you can report the information in a variety of ways, each contains the information. Typically, you don’t have to give more information than this because doing so makes your speech awkward and filled with a lot of extraneous information. If your audience wants more specific information about your sources, they can ask for your written citations. You should have a “References” (APA) or “Works Cited” (MLA) paper or (if using a slideshow app such as PowerPoint or Google Slides) on the final slide. In those case, make sure to write out the reference information based on our advice below.

In- T ext Citation

There are two primary ways that you can cite information in text, or in the body of your writing. The first is called summary or synopsis . Luckily, we cite and report information the same whether it is a summary or synopsis. Let’s take the following passage that we might find in an academic journal article (sometimes called a periodical ): “After surveying 200 participants, the study found that people like dogs more than cats, hamburgers more than hotdogs, and cake more than pie.” Now, we’ll create a summary in both APA and MLA:

McGeough and Golsan (2023) discovered that people like dogs more than cats.

Researchers have discovered that people like dogs more than cats (McGeough & Golsan, 2023).

McGeough and Golsan discovered that people like dogs more than cats (1).

Researchers have discovered that people like dogs more than cats (McGeough and Golsan 1).

The sentences can be written either way, but both contain information that is specific to their citation style. Notice how in APA, the in-text citation shows the authors’ last names, the year of publication, and uses the ampersand symbol (“&”) whereas the authors last names, the page number the information was found on, and the word “and” was needed in MLA (we made up the year of publication and page number for the sake of the example). Also, notice how the summary focuses on one finding, even though the research found peoples’ preferences on three different things. If we had reported on all three findings, in our own words, then it would have been a synopsis. We can also write a direct quote if we cite it properly. For example:

Past research has found that “people like dogs more than cats, hamburgers more than hotdogs, and cake more than pie” (McGeough & Golsan, 2023, p. 1).

Past research has found that “people like dogs more than cats, hamburgers more than hotdogs, and cake more than pie” (McGeough and Golsan 1).

Note, that in APA, we have now added the page number to help a reader find the information that we are quoting whereas citation in MLA doesn’t change. In both cases, though, we use quotation marks to indicate that we are directly quoting material from a source. You must copy information from the source word-for-word if you are using a direct quotation.

Written References

Your references (APA) or works cited (MLA) pages are where you collect all of the information for your sources into one place. Doing this makes it easier for your reader to find the information you use in your writing. Let’s use the article, “Academic advising as teaching: Undergraduate student perceptions of advisor confirmation” and see how to cite it properly in your papers. First, let’s compare out how the citation appears on the article’s first page , Bib It Now , and proper APA :

Scott Titsworth, Joseph P. Mazer, Alan K. Goodboy, San Bolkan & Scott A. Myers (2015) Two Meta-analyses Exploring the Relationship between Teacher Clarity and Student Learning, Communication Education, 64:4, 385-418, DOI: 10.1080/03634523.2015.1041998

(Article’s first page)

Titsworth, S., Mazer, J. P., Goodboy, A. K., Bolkan, S., & Myers, S. A. (2015). Two Meta-analyses Exploring the Relationship between Teacher Clarity and Student Learning. Communication Education. Retrieved from https://www-tandfonline-com.proxy.lib.uni.edu/doi/full/10.1080/03634523.2015.1041998

(Bib It Now)

Titsworth, S., Mazer, J. P., Goodboy, A. K., Bolkan, S., & Myers, S. A. (2015). Two meta-analyses exploring the relationship between teacher clarity and student learning. Communication Education , 64 (4), 385-418. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2015.1041998

Can you see the differences? The third citation is the correct way to cite it in APA. The differences you see are why it is so important to know how to cite information properly. If you just relied on the journal article or app, then your citation would be incorrect and you wouldn’t be informing your audience of your information in the standardized way. Let’s try it with MLA now:

Titsworth, Scott, et al. “Two Meta-analyses Exploring the Relationship between Teacher Clarity and Student Learning.” Communication Education, 9 June 2015, www-tandfonline-com.proxy.lib.uni.edu/doi/full/10.1080/03634523.2015.1041998.

Titsworth, Scott, et al. “Two Meta-analyses Exploring the Relationship between Teacher Clarity and Student Learning.” Communication Education , vol. 9, no. 4, 2015, pp. 385-418, https://doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2015.1041998 .

Again, can you spot the differences? The final example is the correct way to cite an article in MLA.

The examples we just gave are for journal articles, but there is a unique way to cite almost anything: tweets, textbooks, websites with authors, websites without authors, YouTube videos, and a whole lot more. There are thousands of books, blogs, online writing centers, and YouTube/TikTok videos on citation. We suggest you visit a reputable website that offers sample papers so you can compare your work to what is the correct, standard way of citing and formatting your paper. We recommend (and often use ourselves!) the Online Writing Lab (or OWL) website from Purdue University, which offers sample papers in APA and MLA .

As you look at the sample paper and your own, sing the children’s song from Sesame Stree t : “One of these things is not like the others/One of these things just doesn’t belong/Can you tell which thing is not like the others/By the time I finish my song?” That is, if your paper looks different than the sample paper’s formatting, in-text citation, or reference/works cited page, yours is most likely the one that is incorrect—fix it! When students turn in papers that do not adhere to proper formatting, then there are two primary explanations: either the student didn’t take the time/energy to do the work properly or the student cannot follow Sesame Street rules and make corrections to their paper based on comparing their work to a sample paper. Frankly, neither is a good look, which is why your professors (and audience) will get frustrated if you don’t take the time to properly reference your sources.

When you are trying to inform, persuade, or motivate your audience, you need to be able to communicate why you have come to the conclusions you have based on the evidence you have gathered. If you cannot explain why you believe something or if you believe something for poor reasons (e.g., “my family believes this,” “my friends all say this,” or “everyone knows this”), then you have not lived up to your responsibility to be a good, careful researcher. Being able to vet your evidence is the first step to not only demanding that you are an informed person, but that others around you live up to their responsibility to communicate in ways that are factually supported about important topics or problems you and your community may face.

Communication for College, Career, and Civic Life Copyright © by Ryan McGeough; C. Kyle Rudick; Danielle Dick McGeough; and Kathryn B. Golsan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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The disaster of misinformation: a review of research in social media

Sadiq muhammed t.

Department of Management Studies (DoMS), Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600036 India

Saji K. Mathew

The spread of misinformation in social media has become a severe threat to public interests. For example, several incidents of public health concerns arose out of social media misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Against the backdrop of the emerging IS research focus on social media and the impact of misinformation during recent events such as the COVID-19, Australian Bushfire, and the USA elections, we identified disaster, health, and politics as specific domains for a research review on social media misinformation. Following a systematic review process, we chose 28 articles, relevant to the three themes, for synthesis. We discuss the characteristics of misinformation in the three domains, the methodologies that have been used by researchers, and the theories used to study misinformation. We adapt an Antecedents-Misinformation-Outcomes (AMIO) framework for integrating key concepts from prior studies. Based on the AMIO framework, we further discuss the inter-relationships of concepts and the strategies to control the spread of misinformation on social media. Ours is one of the early reviews focusing on social media misinformation research, particularly on three socially sensitive domains; disaster, health, and politics. This review contributes to the emerging body of knowledge in Data Science and social media and informs strategies to combat social media misinformation.

Introduction

Information disorder in social media.

Rumors, misinformation, disinformation, and mal-information are common challenges confronting media of all types. It is, however, worse in the case of digital media, especially on social media platforms. Ease of access and use, speed of information diffusion, and difficulty in correcting false information make control of undesirable information a horrid task [ 1 ]. Alongside these challenges, social media has also been highly influential in spreading timely and useful information. For example, the recent #BlackLivesMatter movement was enabled by social media, which united concurring people's solidarity across the world when George Floyd was killed due to police brutality, and so are 2011 Arab spring in the Middle East and the 2017 #MeToo movement against sexual harassments and abuse [ 2 , 3 ]. Although, scholars have addressed information disorder in social media, a synthesis of the insights from these studies are rare.

The information which is fake or misleading and spreads unintentionally is known as misinformation [ 4 ]. Prior research on misinformation in social media has highlighted various characteristics of misinformation and interventions thereof in different contexts. The issue of misinformation has become dominant with the rise of social media, attracting scholarly attention, particularly after the 2016 USA Presidential election, when misinformation apparently influenced the election results [ 5 ]. The word 'misinformation' was listed as one of the global risks by the World Economic Forum [ 6 ]. A similar term that is popular and confusing along with misinformation is 'disinformation'. It is defined as the information that is fake or misleading, and unlike misinformation, spreads intentionally. Disinformation campaigns are often seen in a political context where state actors create them for political gains. In India, during the initial stage of COVID-19, there was reportedly a surge in fake news linking the virus outbreak to a particular religious group. This disinformation spread gained media attention as it was widely shared on social media platforms. As a result of the targeting, it eventually translated into physical violence and discriminatory treatment against members of the community in some of the Indian states [ 7 ]. 'Rumors' and 'fake news' are similar terms related to misinformation. 'Rumors' are unverified information or statements circulated with uncertainty, and 'fake news' is the misinformation that is distributed in an official news format. Source ambiguity, personal involvement, confirmation bias, and social ties are some of the rumor-causing factors. Yet another related term, mal-information, is accurate information that is used in different contexts to spread hatred or abuse of a person or a particular group. Our review focuses on misinformation that is spread through social media platforms. The words 'rumor', and 'misinformation' are used interchangeably in this paper. Further, we identify factors that cause misinformation based on a systematic review of prior studies.

Ours is one of the early attempts to review social media research on misinformation. This review focuses on three sensitive domains of disaster, health, and politics, setting three objectives: (a) to analyze previous studies to understand the impact of misinformation on the three domains (b) to identify theoretical perspectives used to examine the spread of misinformation on social media and (c) to develop a framework to study key concepts and their inter-relationships emerging from prior studies. We identified these specific areas as the impact of misinformation with regards to both speed of spread and scale of influence are high and detrimental to the public and governments. To the best of our knowledge, the review of the literature on social media misinformation themes are relatively scanty. This review contributes to an emerging body of knowledge in Data Science and informs the efforts to combat social media misinformation. Data Science is an interdisciplinary area which incorporates different areas like statistics, management, and sociology to study the data and create knowledge out of data [ 8 ]. This review will also inform future studies that aim to evaluate and compare patterns of misinformation on sensitive themes of social relevance, such as disaster, health, and politics.

The paper is structured as follows. The first section introduces misinformation in social media context. In Sect.  2 , we provide a brief overview of prior research works on misinformation and social media. Section  3 describes the research methodology, which includes details of the literature search and selection process. Section  4 discusses the analysis of spread of misinformation on social media based on three themes- disaster, health, and politics and the review findings. This includes current state of research, theoretical foundations, determinants of misinformation in social media platforms, and strategies to control the spread of misinformation. Section  5 concludes with the implications and limitations of the paper.

Social media and spread of misinformation

Misinformation arises in uncertain contexts when people are confronted with a scarcity of information they need. During unforeseen circumstances, the affected individual or community experiences nervousness or anxiety. Anxiety is one of the primary reasons behind the spread of misinformation. To overcome this tension, people tend to gather information from sources such as mainstream media and official government social media handles to verify the information they have received. When they fail to receive information from official sources, they collect related information from their peer circles or other informal sources, which would help them to control social tension [ 9 ]. Furthermore, in an emergency context, misinformation helps community members to reach a common understanding of the uncertain situation.

The echo chamber of social media

Social media has increasingly grown in power and influence and has acted as a medium to accelerate sociopolitical movements. Network effects enhance participation in social media platforms which in turn spread information (good or bad) at a faster pace compared to traditional media. Furthermore, due to a massive surge in online content consumption primarily through social media both business organizations and political parties have begun to share content that are ambiguous or fake to influence online users and their decisions for financial and political gains [ 9 , 10 ]. On the other hand, people often approach social media with a hedonic mindset, which reduces their tendency to verify the information they receive [ 9 ]. Repetitive exposure to contents that coincides with their pre-existing beliefs, increases believability and shareability of content. This process known as the echo-chamber effect [ 11 ] is fueled by confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is the tendency of the person to support information that reinforces pre-existing beliefs and neglect opposing perspectives and viewpoints other than their own.

Platforms’ structure and algorithms also have an essential role in spreading misinformation. Tiwana et al. [ 12 ] have defined platform architecture as ‘a conceptual blueprint that describes how the ecosystem is partitioned into a relatively stable platform and a complementary set of modules that are encouraged to vary, and the design rules binding on both’. Business models of these platforms are based upon maximizing user engagement. For example, in the case of Facebook or Twitter, user feed is based on their existing belief or preferences. User feeds provide users with similar content that matches their existing beliefs, thus contributing to the echo chamber effect.

Platform architecture makes the transmission and retransmission of misinformation easier [ 12 , 13 ]. For instance, WhatsApp has a one-touch forward option that enables users to forward messages simultaneously to multiple users. Earlier, a WhatsApp user could forward a message to 250 groups or users at a time, which as a measure for controlling the spread of misinformation was limited to five members in 2019. WhatsApp claimed that globally this restriction reduced message forwarding by 25% [ 14 ]. Apart from platform politics, users also have an essential role in creating or distributing misinformation. In a disaster context, people tend to share misinformation based on their subjective feeling [ 15 ].

Misinformation has the power to influence the decisions of its audience. It can change a citizen's approach toward a topic or a subject. The anti-vaccine movement on Twitter during the 2015 measles (highly communicable disease) outbreak in Disneyland, California, serves as a good example. The movement created conspiracy theories and mistrust on the State, which increased vaccine refusal rate [ 16 ]. Misinformation could even influence election of governments by manipulating citizens’ political attitudes as seen in the 2016 USA and 2017 French elections [ 17 ]. Of late, people rely heavily on Twitter and Facebook to collect the latest happenings from mainstream media [ 18 ].

Combating misinformation in social media has been a challenging task for governments in several countries. When social media influences elections [ 17 ] and health campaigns (like vaccination), governments and international agencies demand social media owners to take necessary actions to combat misinformation [ 13 , 15 ]. Platforms began to regulate bots that were used to spread misinformation. Facebook announced the filtering of their algorithms to combat misinformation, down-ranking the post flagged by their fact-checkers which will reduce the popularity of the post or page. [ 17 ]. However, misinformation has become a complicated issue due to the growth of new users and the emergence of new social media platforms. Jang et al. [ 19 ] have suggested two approaches other than governmental regulation to control misinformation literary and corrective. The literary approach proposes educating users to increase their cognitive ability to differentiate misinformation from the information. The corrective approach provides more fact-checking facilities for users. Warnings would be provided against potentially fabricated content based on crowdsourcing. Both approaches have limitations; the literary approach attracted criticism as it transfers responsibility for the spread of misinformation to citizens. The corrective approach will only have a limited impact as the volume of fabricated content escalates [ 19 – 21 ].

An overview of the literature on misinformation reveals that most investigations focus on examining the methods to combat misinformation. Social media platforms are still discovering new tools and techniques to mitigate misinformation from their platforms, this calls for a research to understand their strategies.

Review method

This research followed a systematic literature review process. The study employed a structured approach based on Webster’s Guidelines [ 22 ] to identify relevant literature on the spread of misinformation. These guidelines helped in maintaining a quality standard while selecting the literature for review. The initial stage of the study involved exploring research papers from relevant databases to understand the volumes and availability of research articles. We extended the literature search to interdisciplinary databases too. We gathered articles from Web of Science, ACM digital library, AIS electronic library, EBSCO host business source premier, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and Springer link. Apart from this, a manual search was performed in Information Systems (IS) scholars' basket of journals [ 23 ] to ensure we did not miss any articles from these journals. We have also preferred articles that have Data Science and Information Systems background. The systematic review process began with keyword search using predefined keywords (Fig.  2 ). We identified related synonyms such as 'misinformation', 'rumors', 'spread', and 'social media' along with their combinations for the search process. The keyword search was on the title, abstract, and on the list of keywords. The literature search was conducted in the month of April 2020. Later, we revisited the literature in December 2021 to include latest publications from 2020 to 2021.

Systematic literature review process

It was observed that scholarly discussion about ‘misinformation and social media’ began to appear in research after 2008. Later in 2010, the topic gained more attention when Twitter bots were used or spreading fake news on the replacement of a USA Senator [ 24 ]. Hate campaigns and fake follower activities were simultaneously growing during that period. As evident from Fig.  1 , showing number of articles published between 2005 and 2021 on misinformation in three databases: Scopus, S pringer, and EBSCO, academic engagement on misinformation seems to have gained more impetus after the 2016 US Presidential election, when social media platforms had apparently influenced the election [ 20 ].

Articles published on misinformation during 2005–2021 (Databases; Scopus, Springer, and EBSCO)

As Data Science is an interdisciplinary field, the focus of our literature review goes beyond disciplinary boundaries. In particular, we focused on the three domains of disaster, health, and politics. This thematic focus of our review has two underlying reasons (a) the impact of misinformation through social media is sporadic and has the most damaging effects in these three domains and (b) our selection criteria in systematic review finally resulted in research papers that related to these three domains. This review has excluded platforms that are designed for professional and business users such as LinkedIn and Behance. A rational for the choice of these themes are discussed in the next section.

Inclusion–exclusion criteria

Figure  2 depicts the systematic review process followed in this study. In our preliminary search, 2148 records were retrieved from databases—all those articles were gathered onto a spreadsheet, which was manually cross-checked with the journals linked to the articles. Studies published during 2005–2021, studies published in English language, articles published from peer-reviewed journals, journals rating and papers relevant to misinformation were used as the inclusion criteria. We have excluded reviews, thesis, dissertations, and editorials; and articles on misinformation that are not akin to social media. To fetch the best from these articles, we selected articles that were from top journals, rated above three according to ABS rating and A*, A, and B according to ABDC rating. This process, while ensuring the quality of papers, also effectively shortened purview of study to 643 articles of acceptable quality. We have not performed track-back and track-forward on references. During this process, duplicate records were also identified and removed. Further screening of articles based on the title, abstract, and full text (wherever necessary)—brought down the number to 207 articles.

Further screening based on the three themes reduced the focus to 89 articles. We conducted a full-text analysis of these 89 articles. We further excluded articles that had not considered misinformation as a central theme and finally arrived at 28 articles for detailed review (Table ​ (Table1 1 ).

Reviewed articles

The selected studies used a variety of research methods to examine the misinformation on social media. Experimentation and text mining of tweets emerged as the most frequent research methods; there were 11 studies that used experimental methods, and eight used Twitter data analyses. Apart from these, there were three survey methods, two mixed methods, and case study methods each, and one opportunistic sampling and exploratory study each. The selected literature for review includes nine articles on disaster, eight on healthcare, and eleven from politics. We preferred papers for review based on three major social media platforms; Twitter, Facebook, and WhatsApp. These are the three social media owners with the highest transmission rates and most active users [ 25 ] and most likely platforms for misinformation propagation.

Coding procedure

Initially both the authors have manually coded the articles individually by reading full text of each article and then identified the three themes; disaster, health, and politics. We used an inductive coding approach to derive codes from the data. The intercoder reliability rate between the authors were 82.1%. Disagreement among authors related to deciding in which theme few papers fall under were discussed and a resolution was arrived at. Later we used NVIVO, a qualitative data analysis software, to analyze unstructured data to encode and categorize the themes from the articles. The codes emerged from the articles were categorized into sub-themes and later attached to the main themes; disaster, health, and politics. NVIVO produced a rank list of codes based on frequency of occurrence (“ Appendix ”). An intercoder reliability check was completed for the data by an external research scholar having a different areas of expertise to ensure reliability. The coder agreed upon 26 articles out of 28 (92.8%), which indicated a high level intercoder reliability [ 49 ]. The independent researcher’s disagreement about the code for two authors was discussed between the authors and the research scholar and a consensus was arrived at.

We initially reviewed articles separately from the categories of disaster, health, and politics. We first provide emergent issues that cut across these themes.

Social media misinformation research

Disaster, health, and politics emerged as the three domains (“ Appendix ”) where misinformation can cause severe harm, often leading to casualties or even irreversible effects. The mitigation of these effects can also demand substantial financial or human resources burden considering the scale of effect and risk of spreading negative information to the public altogether. All these areas are sensitive in nature. Further, disaster, health, and politics have gained the attention of researchers and governments as the challenges of misinformation confronting these domains are rampant. Besides sensitivity, misinformation in these areas has higher potential to exacerbate the existing crisis in society. During the 2020 Munich security conference, WHO’s Director-General noted: “We are not just fighting an epidemic; we are fighting an infodemic”, referring to the faster spread of COVID-19 misinformation than the virus [ 50 ].

More than 6000 people were hospitalized due to COVID-19 related misinformation in the first three months of 2020 [ 51 ]. As COVID-19 vaccination began, one of the popular myths was that Bill Gates wanted to use vaccines to embed microchips in people to track them and this created vaccine hesitancy among the citizens [ 52 ]. These reports show the severity of the spread of misinformation and how misinformation can aggravate a public health crisis.

Misinformation during disaster

In the context of emergency situations (unforeseen circumstances), the credibility of social media information has often been questioned [ 11 ]. When a crisis occurs, affected communities often experience a lack of localized information needed for them to make emergency decisions. This accelerates the spread of misinformation as people tend to fill this information gap with misinformation or 'improvised news' [ 9 , 24 , 25 ]. The broadcasting power of social media and re-sharing of misinformation could weaken and slow down rescue operations [ 24 , 25 ]. As the local people have more access to the disaster area, they become immediate reporters of a crisis through social media. Mainstream media comes into picture only later. However, recent incidents reveals that voluntary reporting of this kind has begun to affect rescue operations negatively as it often acts as a collective rumor mill [ 9 ], which propagates misinformation. During the 2018 floods in the South-Indian state of Kerala a fake video on Mullaperiyar Dam leakage created unnecessary panic among the citizens, thus negatively impacting the rescue operations [ 53 ]. Information from mainstream media is relatively more reliable as they have traditional gatekeepers such as peer reviewers and editors who cross-check the information source before publication. Chua et al. [ 28 ] found that a major chunk of corrective tweets were retweeted from mainstream news media, thus mainstream media is considered as a preferred rumor correction channel, where they attempt to correct misinformation with the right information.

Characterizing disaster misinformation

Oh et al. [ 9 ] studied citizen-driven information processing based on three social crises using rumor theory. The main characteristic of a crisis is the complexity of information processing and sharing [ 9 , 24 ]. A task is considered complex when characterized by increase in information load, information diversity or rate of information change [ 54 ]. Information overload and information dearth are the two grave concerns that interrupt the communication between the affected community and a rescue team. Information overload, where too many enquiries and fake news distract a response team, slows them down to recognize valid information [ 9 , 27 ]. According to Balan and Mathew [ 55 ] information overload occurs when volume of information such as complexity of words and multiple languages that exceeds and cannot be processed by a human being. Here information dearth in our context is the lack of localized information that is supposed to help the affected community to make emergency decisions. When the official government communication channels or mainstream media cannot fulfill citizen's needs, they resort to information from their social media peers [ 9 , 27 , 29 ].

In a social crisis context, Tamotsu Shibutani [ 56 ] defines rumoring as collective sharing and exchange of information, which helps the community members to reach a common understanding about the crisis situation [ 30 ]. This mechanism works in social media, which creates information dearth and information overload. Anxiety, information ambiguity (source ambiguity and content ambiguity), personal involvement, and social ties are the rumor-causing variables in a crisis context [ 9 , 27 ]. In general, anxiety is a negative feeling caused by distress or stressful situation, which fabricates or produces adverse outcomes [ 57 ]. In the context of a crisis or emergency, a community may experience anxiety in the absence of reliable information or in other cases when confronted with overload of information, making it difficult to take appropriate decisions. Under such circumstances, people may tend to rely on rumors as a primary source of information. The influence level of anxiety is higher during a community crisis than during a business crisis [ 9 ]. However, anxiety, as an attribute, varies based on the nature of platforms. For example, Oh et al. [ 9 ] found that the Twitter community do not fall into social pressure as like WhatsApp community [ 30 ]. Simon et al. [ 30 ] developed a model of rumor retransmission on social media and identified information ambiguity, anxiety and personal involvement as motives for rumormongering. Attractiveness is another rumor-causing variable. It occurs when aesthetically appealing visual aids or designs capture a receiver’s attention. Here believability matters more than the content’s reliability or the truth of the information received.

The second stage of the spread of misinformation is misinformation retransmission. Apart from the rumor-causing variables that are reported in Oh et al. [ 9 ], Liu et al. [ 13 ] found senders credibility and attractiveness as significant variables related to misinformation retransmission. Personal involvement and content ambiguity can also affect misinformation transmission [ 13 ]. Abdullah et al. [ 25 ] explored retweeter's motive on the Twitter platform to spread disaster information. Content relevance, early information [ 27 , 31 ], trustworthiness of the content, emotional influence [ 30 ], retweet count, pro-social behavior (altruistic behavior among the citizens during the crisis), and the need to inform their circle are the factors that drive users’ retweet [ 25 ]. Lee et al. [ 26 ] have also examined the impact of Twitter features on message diffusion based on the 2013 Boston marathon tragedy. The study reported that during crisis events (especially during disasters), a tweet that has less reaction time (time between the crisis and initial tweet) and had higher impact than other tweets. This shows that to an extent, misinformation can be controlled if officials could communicate at the early stage of a crisis [ 27 ]. Liu et al. [ 13 ] showed that tweets with hashtags influence spread of misinformation. Further, Lee et al. [ 26 ] found that tweets with no hashtags had more influence due to contextual differences. For instance, usage of hashtags for marketing or advertising has a positive impact, while in the case of disaster or emergency situations, usage of hashtags (as in case of Twitter) has a negative impact. Messages with no hashtag get widely diffused when compared to messages with the hashtag [ 26 ].

Oh et al. [ 15 ] explored the behavioral aspects of social media participants that led to retransmission and spread of misinformation. They found that when people believe a threatening piece of misinformation they received, they are more likely to spread it, and they take necessary safety measures (sometimes even extreme actions). Repetition of the same misinformation from different sources also makes it more believable [ 28 ]. However, when they realize the received information was false they were less likely to share it with others [ 13 , 26 ]. The characteristics of the platform used to deliver the misinformation also matters. For instance, numbers of likes and shares of the information increases the believability of the social media post [ 47 ].

In summary, we found that platform architecture also has an essential role in spreading and believability of misinformation. While conducting this systematic literature review, we observed that more studies on disaster and misinformation are based on the Twitter platform. The six papers out of nine that we reviewed on disaster area were based on the Twitter platform. When a message was delivered in video format, it had a higher impact compared to audio or text messages. If the message had a religious or cultural narrative, it led to behavioral action (danger control response) [ 15 ]. Users were more likely to spread misinformation through WhatsApp than Twitter. It was difficult to find the source of shared information on WhatsApp [ 30 ].

Misinformation related to healthcare

From our review, we found two systematic literature reviews that discusses health-related misinformation on social media. Yang et al. [ 58 ] explores the characteristics, impact and influences of health misinformation on social media. Wang et al. [ 59 ] addresses health misinformation related to vaccines and infectious diseases. This review shows that health-related misinformation, especially on M.M.R. vaccine and autism are largely spreading on social media and the government is unable to control it.

The spread of health misinformation is an emerging issue facing public health authorities. Health misinformation could delay proper treatment to patients, which could further add more casualties to the public health domain [ 28 , 59 , 60 ]. Often people tend to believe health-related information that is shared by their peers. Some of them tend to share their treatment experience or traditional remedies online. This information could be in a different context and may not be even accurate [ 33 , 34 ]. Compared to health-related websites, the language used to detail the health information shared on social media will be simple and may not include essential details [ 35 , 37 ]. Some studies reported that conspiracy theories and pseudoscience have escalated casualties [ 33 ]. Pseudoscience is the term referred to as the false claim, which pretends as if the shared misinformation has scientific evidence. The anti-vaccination movement on Twitter is one of the examples of pseudoscience [ 61 ]. Here the user might have shared the information due to the lack of scientific knowledge [ 35 ].

Characterizing healthcare misinformation

The attributes that characterize healthcare misinformation are distinctly different from other domains. Chua and Banerjee, [ 37 ] identified the characteristics of health misinformation as dread and wish. Dread is the rumor which creates more panic and unpleasant consequences. For example, in the wake of COVID-19, misinformation was widely shared on social media, which claimed that children 'died on the spot' after the mass COVID-19 vaccination program in Senegal, West Africa [ 61 ]. This message created panic among the citizens, as the misinformation was shared more than 7000 times on Facebook [ 61 ]. Wish is the type of rumor that gives hope to the receiver (e.g.,: rumor on free medicine distribution) [ 62 ]. Dread rumor looks more trustworthy and more likely to get viral. Dread rumor was the cause of violence against a minority group in India during COVID-19 [ 7 ]. Chua and Banerjee, [ 32 ] added pictorial and textual representations as the characteristics of health misinformation. The rumor that contains only text is textual rumor. Pictorial rumor on the other hand contains both text and images. However, Chua and Banerjee, [ 32 ] found that users prefer textual rumor than pictorial. Unlike rumors that are circulated during a natural disaster, health misinformation will be long-lasting, and it can spread cutting across boundaries. Personal involvement (the importance of information for both sender and receiver), rumor type and presence of counter rumor are some of the variables that can escalate users’ trusting and sharing behavior related to rumor [ 37 ]. The study of Madraki et al. [ 46 ] study on COVID-19 misinformation /disinformation reported that COVID-19 misinformation on social media differs significantly based on the languages, countries and their culture and beliefs. Acceptance of social media platforms as well as Governmental censorship also play an important role here.

Widespread misinformation could also change collective opinion [ 29 ]. Online users’ epistemic beliefs could control their sharing decisions. Chua and Banerjee, [ 32 ] argued that epistemologically naïve users (users who think knowledge can be acquired easily) are the type of users who accelerate the spread of misinformation on platforms. Those who read or share the misinformation are not likely to follow it [ 37 ]. Gu and Hong [ 34 ] examined health misinformation on mobile social media context. Mobile internet users are different from large screen users. The mobile phone user might have a more emotional attachment toward the gadget. It also motivates them to believe received misinformation. The corrective effort focused on large screen users may not work with mobile phone users or small screen users. Chua and Banerjee [ 32 ] suggested that simplified sharing options of platforms also motivate users to share the received misinformation before validating it. Shahi et al. [ 47 ] found that misinformation is also propagated or shared even by the verified Twitter handles. They become a part of misinformation transmission either by creating it or endorsing it by liking or sharing the information.

The focus of existing studies is heavily based on data from social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, although other platforms too escalate the spread of misinformation. Such a phenomenon was evident in the wake of COVID-19 as an intense trend of misinformation spread was reported on WhatsApp, TikTok, and Instagram.

Social media misinformation and politics

There have been several studies on the influence of misinformation on politics across the world [ 43 , 44 ]. Political misinformation has been predominantly used to influence the voters. The USA Presidential election of 2016, French election of 2017 and Indian elections in 2019 have been reported as examples where misinformation has influenced election process [ 15 , 17 , 45 ]. During the 2016 USA election, the partisan effect was a key challenge, where false information was presented as if it was from an authorized source [ 39 ]. Based on a user's prior behavior on the platform, algorithms can manipulate the user's feed [ 40 ]. In a political context, fake news can create more harm as it can influence the voters and the public. Although, fake news has less ‘life’, it's consequences may not be short living. Verification of fake news takes time and by the time verification results are shared, fake news could achieve its goal [ 43 , 48 , 63 ].

Characterizing misinformation in politics

Confirmation bias has a dominant role in social media misinformation related to politics. Readers are more likely to read and engage with the information that confirms their preexisting beliefs and political affiliations and reject information that challenges it [ 46 , 48 ]. For example, in the 2016 USA election, Pro-Trump fake news was accepted by Republicans [ 19 ]. Misinformation spreads quickly among people who have similar ideologies [ 19 ]. The nature of interface also could escalate the spread of misinformation. Kim and Dennis [ 36 ] investigated the influence of platforms' information presentation format and reported that social media platforms indirectly force users to accept certain information; they present information such that little importance is given to the source of information. This presentation is manipulative as people tend to believe information from a reputed source and are more likely to reject information that is from a less-known source [ 42 ].

Pennycook et al. [ 39 ], and Garrett and Poulsen [ 40 ] argued that warning tags (or flagging) on the headline can reduce the spread of misinformation. However, it is not practical to assign warning tags to all misinformation as it gets generated faster than valid information. The fact-checking process in social media also takes time. Hence, people tend to believe that the headlines which do not have warning tags are true and the idea of warning tags will thus not serve any purpose [ 39 ]. Furthermore, it could increase the reader's belief in warning tags and lead to misperception [ 39 ]. Readers tend to believe that all information is verified and consider untagged false information as more accurate. This phenomenon is known as the implied truth effect [ 39 ]. In this case, source reputation rating will influence the credibility of the information. The reader gives less importance to the source that has a low rating [ 17 , 50 ].

Theoretical perspectives of social media misinformation

We identified six theories among the articles we reviewed in relation to social media misinformation. We found rumor theory was used most frequently among all the studies chosen for our review; the theory was used in four articles as a theoretical foundation [ 9 , 11 , 13 , 37 , 43 ]. Oh et al. [ 9 ], studied citizen-driven information processing on Twitter using rumor theory in three social crises. This paper identified four key variables (source ambiguity, personal involvement, and anxiety) that spread misinformation. The authors further examined the acceptance of hate rumors and the aftermath of community crisis based on the Bangalore mass exodus of 2012. Liu et al. [ 13 ], examined the reason behind the retransmission of messages using rumor theory in disasters. Hazel Kwon and Raghav Rao [ 43 ] investigated how internet surveillance by the government impacts citizens’ involvement with cyber-rumors during a homeland security threat. Diffusion theory has also been used in IS research to discern the adoption of technological innovation. Researchers have used diffusion theory to study the retweeting behavior among Twitter users (tweet diffusion) during extreme events [ 26 ]. This research investigated information diffusion during extreme events based on four major elements of diffusion: innovation, time, communication channels and social systems. Kim et al. [ 36 ] examined the effect of rating news sources on users’ belief in social media articles based on three different rating mechanisms expert rating, user article rating and user source rating. Reputation theory was used to show how users would discern cognitive biases in expert ratings.

Murungi et al. [ 38 ] used rhetorical theory to argue that fact-checkers have less effectiveness on fake news that spreads on social media platforms. The study proposed a different approaches by focusing on underlying belief structure that accepts misinformation. The theory was used to identify fake news and socially constructed beliefs in the context of Alabama’s senatorial election in 2017. Using third person effect as the theoretical ground, the characteristics of rumor corrections on Twitter platform have also been examined in the context of death hoax of Singapore’s first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew [ 28 ]. This paper explored the motives behind collective rumor and identified the key characteristics of collective rumor correction. Using situational crisis communication theory (SCCT), Paek and Hove [ 44 ] examined how government could effectively respond to risk-related rumors during national-level crises in the context of food safety rumor. Refuting rumor, denying it and attacking the source of rumor are the three rumor response strategies suggested by the authors to counter rumor-mongering (Table ​ (Table2 2 ).

Theories used in social media misinformation research

Determinants of misinformation in social media platforms

Figure  3 depicts the concepts that emerged from our review using a framework of Antecedents-Misinformation-Outcomes (AMIO) framework, an approach we adapt from Smith HJ et al. [ 66 ]. Originally developed to study information privacy, the Antecedent-Privacy-Concerns-Outcomes (APCO) framework provided a nomological canvas to present determinants, mediators and outcome variables pertaining to information privacy. Following this canvas, we discuss the antecedents of misinformation, mediators of misinformation and misinformation outcomes, as they emerged from prior studies (Fig.  3 ).

Determinants of misinformation

Anxiety, source ambiguity, trustworthiness, content ambiguity, personal involvement, social ties, confirmation bias, attractiveness, illiteracy, ease of sharing options and device attachment emerged as the variables determining misinformation in social media.

Anxiety is the emotional feeling of the person who sends or receives the information. If the person is anxious about the information received, he or she is more likely to share or spread misinformation [ 9 ]. Source ambiguity deals with the origin of the message. When the person is convinced of the source of information, it increases his trustworthiness and the person shares it. Content ambiguity addresses the content clarity of the information [ 9 , 13 ]. Personal involvement denotes how much the information is important for both the sender and receiver [ 9 ]. Social ties, information shared by a family member or social peers will influence the person to share the information [ 9 , 13 ]. From prior literature, it is understood that confirmation bias is one of the root causes of political misinformation. Research on attractiveness of the received information reveals that users tend to believe and share the information that is received on her or his personal device [ 34 ]. After receiving the misinformation from various sources, users accept it based on their existing beliefs, and social, cognitive factors and political factors. Oh et al. [ 15 ] observed that during crises, people by default have a tendency to believe unverified information especially when it helps them to make sense of the situation. Misinformation has significant effects on individuals and society. Loss of lives [ 9 , 15 , 28 , 30 ], economic loss [ 9 , 44 ], loss of health [ 32 , 35 ] and loss of reputation [ 38 , 43 ] are the major outcome of misinformation emerged from our review.

Strategies for controlling the spread of misinformation

Discourse on social media misinformation mitigation has resulted in prioritization of strategies such as early communication from the officials and use of scientific evidence [ 9 , 35 ]. When people realize that the received information or message is false, they are less likely to share that information with others [ 15 ]. Other strategies are 'rumor refutation—reducing citizens' intention to spread misinformation by real information which reduces their uncertainty and serves to control misinformation [ 44 ]. Rumor correction models for social media platforms also employ algorithms and crowdsourcing [ 28 ]. Majority of the papers that we have reviewed suggested fact-checking by experts, source rating of the received information, attaching warning tags to the headlines or entire news [ 36 ], and flagging content by the platform owners [ 40 ] as the strategies to control the spread of misinformation. Studies on controlling misinformation in the public health context showed that the government could also seek the help of public health professionals to mitigate misinformation [ 31 ].

However, the aforementioned strategies have been criticized for several limitations. Most papers mentioned confirmation bias as having a significant impact on the misinformation mitigation strategies, especially in the political context where people tend to believe the information that matches their prior belief. Garrett and Poulsen [ 40 ] argued that during an emergency situation, misinformation recipient may not be able to characterize the misinformation as true or false. Thus, providing alternative explanation or the real information to the users have more effect than providing fact-checking report. Studies by Garrett and Poulsen [ 40 ], and Pennycook et al. [ 39 ] reveal a drawback of attaching warning tags to news headlines. Once the flagging or tagging of the information is introduced, the information with the absence of tags will be considered as true or reliable information. This creates an implied truth effect. Further, it is also not always practical to evaluate all social media posts. Similarly, Kim and Dennis [ 36 ] studied fake news flagging and found that fake news flags did not influence users’ belief. However, they created cognitive dissonance and users were in search of the truthfulness of the headline. Later in 2017 Facebook discontinued the fake news flagging service owing to its limitations [ 45 ]

Key research gaps and future directions

Although, misinformation is a multi-sectoral issue, our systematic review observed that interdisciplinary research on social media misinformation is relatively scarce. ‘Confirmation bias’ is one of the most significant behavioral problem that motivates the spread of misinformation. However, lack of research on it reveals the scope for future interdisciplinary research across the fields of Data Science, Information Systems and Psychology in domains such as politics and health care. In the disaster context, there is a scope for study on the behavior of a first respondent and an emergency manager to understand their information exchange pattern with the public. Similarly, future researchers could analyze communication patterns between citizens and frontline workers in the public health context, which may be useful to design counter-misinformation campaigns and awareness interventions. Since information disorder is a multi-sectoral issue, researchers need to understand misinformation patterns among multiple government departments for coordinated counter-misinformation intervention.

There is a further dearth of studies on institutional responses to control misinformation. To fill the gap, future studies could concentrate on the analysis of governmental and organizational interventions to control misinformation at the level of policies, regulatory mechanisms, and communication strategies. For example, in India there is no specific law against misinformation but there are some provisions in the Information Technology Act (IT Act) and Disaster Management Act which can control misinformation and disinformation. An example of awareness intervention is an initiative named ‘Satyameva Jayate’ launched in Kannur district of Kerala, India which focused on sensitizing children at school to spot misinformation [ 67 ]. As noted earlier, within the research on Misinformation in the political context, there is a lack of research on strategies adopted by the state to counter misinformation. Therefore, building on cases like 'Satyameva Jayate' would further contribute to knowledge in this area.

Technology-based strategies adopted by social media to control the spread of misinformation emphasize the corrective algorithms, keywords and hashtags as a solution [ 32 , 37 , 43 ]. However, these corrective measures have their own limitations. Misinformation corrective algorithms are ineffective if not used immediately after the misinformation has been created. Related hashtags and keywords are used by researchers to find content shared on social media platforms to retrieve data. However, it may not be possible for researchers to cover all the keywords or hashtags employed by users. Further, algorithms may not decipher content shared in regional languages. Another limitation of algorithms employed by platforms is that they recommend and often display content based on user activities and interests which limits the users access to information from multiple perspectives, thus reinforcing their existing belief [ 29 ]. A reparative measure is to display corrective information as 'related stories' for misinformation. However, Facebook’s related stories algorithm only activates when an individual clicks on an outside link, which limits the number of people who will see the corrective information through the algorithm which turns out to be a challenge. Future research could investigate the impact of related stories as a corrective measure by analyzing the relation between misinformation and frequency of related stories posted vis a vis real information.

Our review also found a scarcity of research on the spread of misinformation on certain social media platforms while studies being skewed toward a few others. Of the studies reviewed, 15 articles were concentrated on misinformation spread on Twitter and Facebook. Although, from recent news reports it is evident that largely misinformation and disinformation are spread through popular messaging platforms like the 'WhatsApp', ‘Telegram’, ‘WeChat’, and ‘Line’, research using data from these platforms are, however, scanty. Especially in the Indian context, the magnitude of problems arising from misinformation through WhatsApp are overwhelming [ 68 ]. To address the lacunae of research on messaging platforms, we suggest future researchers to concentrate on investigating the patterns of misinformation spreading on platforms like WhatsApp. Moreover, message diffusion patterns are unique to each social media platform; therefore, it is useful to study the misinformation diffusion patterns on different social media platforms. Future studies could also address the differential roles, patterns and intensity of the spread of misinformation on various messaging and photo/ video-sharing social networking services.

Evident from our review, most research on misinformation is based on Euro-American context and the dominant models proposed for controlling misinformation may have limited applicability to other regions. Moreover, the popularity of social media platforms and usage patterns are diverse across the globe consequent to cultural differences and political regimes of the region, therefore necessitating researchers of social media to take cognizance of empirical experiences of ' left-over' regions.

To understand the spread of misinformation on social media platforms, we conducted a systematic literature review in three important domains where misinformation is rampant: disaster, health, and politics. We reviewed 28 articles relevant to the themes chosen for the study. This is one of the earliest reviews focusing on social media misinformation research, especially based on three sensitive domains. We have discussed how misinformation spreads in the three sectors, the methodologies that have been used by researchers, theoretical perspectives, Antecedents-Misinformation-Outcomes (AMIO) framework for understanding key concepts and their inter-relationships, and strategies to control the spread of misinformation.

Our review also identified major gaps in IS research on misinformation in social media. This includes the need for methodological innovations in addition to experimental methods which have been widely used. This study has some limitations that we acknowledge. We might not have identified all relevant papers on spread of misinformation on social media from existing literature as some authors might have used different keywords and also due to our strict inclusion and exclusion criteria. There might also have been relevant publications in languages other than English which were not covered in this review. Our focus on three domains also restricted the number of papers we reviewed.

Author contributions

TMS: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Writing—Original Draft, SKM: Writing—Review & Editing, Supervision.

This research did not receive any specific Grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Declarations

On behalf of two authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest in this research paper.

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Contributor Information

Sadiq Muhammed T, Email: [email protected] .

Saji K. Mathew, Email: ni.ca.mtii@ijas .

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Essay On Media

Keeping up with the most recent developments is critical in today's society. People can get the most recent and important news through the media. The media is the most commonly used medium for receiving information from north to south or east to west. Here are a few sample essays on the topic ‘Media’.

100 Words Essay On Media

200 word essay on media, 500 word essay on media.

The media has an impact on the reputation of a political party, organisation, or individual. Media keeps people informed about current happenings in politics, culture, art, academia, communication, and commerce. Different forms of media help modern civilization in remaining in touch with the world in the shortest amount of time.

The media is all around us; we are immersed in it even when we are not aware of it. It is seen in newspapers, television, and technological gadgets such as cell phones. We perceive it as a tool for speeding time or distancing ourselves from what is going on in other people's lives.

Social media is a tool that has become immensely popular among all ages due to its user-friendly interface. The youth are the most prevalent social media user demographics, which is both remarkable and concerning.

Imagery from the media abounds in today's culture. We know this since we may see posters advertising well-known brands and the latest products almost anywhere we go, such as while driving on the highway. When we are drawn to advertisements, we may begin to imagine or visualise ourselves using them.

The media can tell us about a product, service, or message. Today, media influence is so powerful that it may easily influence public opinion both positively and negatively. We also live in a society that is heavily reliant on the media for entertainment and information. Indeed, pictures in the media have an effect on both people and society, especially women, men, teenagers, and young children.

Simultaneously, media such as television, broadens our perspective by providing us with access to facts from all around the world. Television may also provide us with a wide range of news and current happenings. It can also be a useful learning tool, guiding future generations in the proper direction.

The media has a large influence on our lives. We educate ourselves on a regular basis by staying up with the latest events. The news serves a crucial role in keeping us informed about current affairs and global happenings. For example, because of globalization, you can read about current happenings in the United States of America even if you live in India.

The media is the most significant communication tool. It aids in the delivery or dissemination of news. Although the media is also associated with spreading fake news, it also plays an important role in informing us about reality. We cannot deny that this world is filled with so many social problems that we require the media to spotlight these concerns so that the government or other individuals can take action to resolve these social issues.

Role Of Media

When it comes to the media, it is regarded as the fourth element of democracy. It's the most comprehensive repository of information on the globe. Everyone hope and expects the media to provide us with the most complete and accurate news in any situation. As a result, the media plays an important role in balancing all areas of our society.

It is crucial for teaching and informing global citizens about what is happening around the world. As a result, supplying readers with truthful and authentic news is vital for societal growth. The case of Aayushi Talvaar is a good illustration of how the media works.

Advantages Of Media

Education | The media educates the public. The mob learns about health issues, environmental preservation, and a variety of other relevant topics through television or radio programming.

Keeps Us Informed | People obtain the most recent news in a timely manner. Distance is not a barrier to providing knowledge to people from anywhere on the planet. People receive the daily latest news from media sites, which keep them current on the latest trends and happenings throughout the world.

Knowledge | The media can help you learn more about a variety of topics.

Amusement | It is a great source of entertainment. People are amused by music and television shows.

Disadvantages Of Media

Individualism | People spend far too much time watching or binge-watching stuff on the internet. As a result, their relationships with friends, family, and neighbours may suffer as a result.

Fraud and Cybercrime | The Internet is lurking with imposters, fraudsters, hackers, and other predators with the opportunity to commit criminal acts without the victims' knowledge.

Addiction | For most children and adults, some television shows and internet media can be quite addictive, resulting in a decrease in productivity.

Health Issues | Prolonged television viewing or internet bingeing can cause visual difficulties, and prolonged exposure to loud noises via headphones or earphones can cause hearing impairments.

Malware and Fake Profiles | Anyone can set up an anonymous account and pretend to be someone else. Anyone with access to such profiles might use them for malevolent purposes, such as spreading misinformation, which can harm the image of any targeted people or company.

Explore Career Options (By Industry)

• Construction
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• Information Technology

Bio Medical Engineer

The field of biomedical engineering opens up a universe of expert chances. An Individual in the biomedical engineering career path work in the field of engineering as well as medicine, in order to find out solutions to common problems of the two fields. The biomedical engineering job opportunities are to collaborate with doctors and researchers to develop medical systems, equipment, or devices that can solve clinical problems. Here we will be discussing jobs after biomedical engineering, how to get a job in biomedical engineering, biomedical engineering scope, and salary. 

Data Administrator

Database professionals use software to store and organise data such as financial information, and customer shipping records. Individuals who opt for a career as data administrators ensure that data is available for users and secured from unauthorised sales. DB administrators may work in various types of industries. It may involve computer systems design, service firms, insurance companies, banks and hospitals.

Ethical Hacker

A career as ethical hacker involves various challenges and provides lucrative opportunities in the digital era where every giant business and startup owns its cyberspace on the world wide web. Individuals in the ethical hacker career path try to find the vulnerabilities in the cyber system to get its authority. If he or she succeeds in it then he or she gets its illegal authority. Individuals in the ethical hacker career path then steal information or delete the file that could affect the business, functioning, or services of the organization.

Data Analyst

The invention of the database has given fresh breath to the people involved in the data analytics career path. Analysis refers to splitting up a whole into its individual components for individual analysis. Data analysis is a method through which raw data are processed and transformed into information that would be beneficial for user strategic thinking.

Data are collected and examined to respond to questions, evaluate hypotheses or contradict theories. It is a tool for analyzing, transforming, modeling, and arranging data with useful knowledge, to assist in decision-making and methods, encompassing various strategies, and is used in different fields of business, research, and social science.

Geothermal Engineer

Individuals who opt for a career as geothermal engineers are the professionals involved in the processing of geothermal energy. The responsibilities of geothermal engineers may vary depending on the workplace location. Those who work in fields design facilities to process and distribute geothermal energy. They oversee the functioning of machinery used in the field.

Remote Sensing Technician

Individuals who opt for a career as a remote sensing technician possess unique personalities. Remote sensing analysts seem to be rational human beings, they are strong, independent, persistent, sincere, realistic and resourceful. Some of them are analytical as well, which means they are intelligent, introspective and inquisitive. 

Remote sensing scientists use remote sensing technology to support scientists in fields such as community planning, flight planning or the management of natural resources. Analysing data collected from aircraft, satellites or ground-based platforms using statistical analysis software, image analysis software or Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a significant part of their work. Do you want to learn how to become remote sensing technician? There's no need to be concerned; we've devised a simple remote sensing technician career path for you. Scroll through the pages and read.

Geotechnical engineer

The role of geotechnical engineer starts with reviewing the projects needed to define the required material properties. The work responsibilities are followed by a site investigation of rock, soil, fault distribution and bedrock properties on and below an area of interest. The investigation is aimed to improve the ground engineering design and determine their engineering properties that include how they will interact with, on or in a proposed construction. 

The role of geotechnical engineer in mining includes designing and determining the type of foundations, earthworks, and or pavement subgrades required for the intended man-made structures to be made. Geotechnical engineering jobs are involved in earthen and concrete dam construction projects, working under a range of normal and extreme loading conditions. 

Cartographer

How fascinating it is to represent the whole world on just a piece of paper or a sphere. With the help of maps, we are able to represent the real world on a much smaller scale. Individuals who opt for a career as a cartographer are those who make maps. But, cartography is not just limited to maps, it is about a mixture of art , science , and technology. As a cartographer, not only you will create maps but use various geodetic surveys and remote sensing systems to measure, analyse, and create different maps for political, cultural or educational purposes.

Budget Analyst

Budget analysis, in a nutshell, entails thoroughly analyzing the details of a financial budget. The budget analysis aims to better understand and manage revenue. Budget analysts assist in the achievement of financial targets, the preservation of profitability, and the pursuit of long-term growth for a business. Budget analysts generally have a bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, economics, or a closely related field. Knowledge of Financial Management is of prime importance in this career.

Product Manager

A Product Manager is a professional responsible for product planning and marketing. He or she manages the product throughout the Product Life Cycle, gathering and prioritising the product. A product manager job description includes defining the product vision and working closely with team members of other departments to deliver winning products.  

Underwriter

An underwriter is a person who assesses and evaluates the risk of insurance in his or her field like mortgage, loan, health policy, investment, and so on and so forth. The underwriter career path does involve risks as analysing the risks means finding out if there is a way for the insurance underwriter jobs to recover the money from its clients. If the risk turns out to be too much for the company then in the future it is an underwriter who will be held accountable for it. Therefore, one must carry out his or her job with a lot of attention and diligence.

Finance Executive

Operations manager.

Individuals in the operations manager jobs are responsible for ensuring the efficiency of each department to acquire its optimal goal. They plan the use of resources and distribution of materials. The operations manager's job description includes managing budgets, negotiating contracts, and performing administrative tasks.

Bank Probationary Officer (PO)

Investment director.

An investment director is a person who helps corporations and individuals manage their finances. They can help them develop a strategy to achieve their goals, including paying off debts and investing in the future. In addition, he or she can help individuals make informed decisions.

Welding Engineer

Welding Engineer Job Description: A Welding Engineer work involves managing welding projects and supervising welding teams. He or she is responsible for reviewing welding procedures, processes and documentation. A career as Welding Engineer involves conducting failure analyses and causes on welding issues. 

Transportation Planner

A career as Transportation Planner requires technical application of science and technology in engineering, particularly the concepts, equipment and technologies involved in the production of products and services. In fields like land use, infrastructure review, ecological standards and street design, he or she considers issues of health, environment and performance. A Transportation Planner assigns resources for implementing and designing programmes. He or she is responsible for assessing needs, preparing plans and forecasts and compliance with regulations.

An expert in plumbing is aware of building regulations and safety standards and works to make sure these standards are upheld. Testing pipes for leakage using air pressure and other gauges, and also the ability to construct new pipe systems by cutting, fitting, measuring and threading pipes are some of the other more involved aspects of plumbing. Individuals in the plumber career path are self-employed or work for a small business employing less than ten people, though some might find working for larger entities or the government more desirable.

Construction Manager

Individuals who opt for a career as construction managers have a senior-level management role offered in construction firms. Responsibilities in the construction management career path are assigning tasks to workers, inspecting their work, and coordinating with other professionals including architects, subcontractors, and building services engineers.

Urban Planner

Urban Planning careers revolve around the idea of developing a plan to use the land optimally, without affecting the environment. Urban planning jobs are offered to those candidates who are skilled in making the right use of land to distribute the growing population, to create various communities. 

Urban planning careers come with the opportunity to make changes to the existing cities and towns. They identify various community needs and make short and long-term plans accordingly.

Highway Engineer

Highway Engineer Job Description:  A Highway Engineer is a civil engineer who specialises in planning and building thousands of miles of roads that support connectivity and allow transportation across the country. He or she ensures that traffic management schemes are effectively planned concerning economic sustainability and successful implementation.

Environmental Engineer

Individuals who opt for a career as an environmental engineer are construction professionals who utilise the skills and knowledge of biology, soil science, chemistry and the concept of engineering to design and develop projects that serve as solutions to various environmental problems. 

Naval Architect

A Naval Architect is a professional who designs, produces and repairs safe and sea-worthy surfaces or underwater structures. A Naval Architect stays involved in creating and designing ships, ferries, submarines and yachts with implementation of various principles such as gravity, ideal hull form, buoyancy and stability. 

Orthotist and Prosthetist

Orthotists and Prosthetists are professionals who provide aid to patients with disabilities. They fix them to artificial limbs (prosthetics) and help them to regain stability. There are times when people lose their limbs in an accident. In some other occasions, they are born without a limb or orthopaedic impairment. Orthotists and prosthetists play a crucial role in their lives with fixing them to assistive devices and provide mobility.

Veterinary Doctor

Pathologist.

A career in pathology in India is filled with several responsibilities as it is a medical branch and affects human lives. The demand for pathologists has been increasing over the past few years as people are getting more aware of different diseases. Not only that, but an increase in population and lifestyle changes have also contributed to the increase in a pathologist’s demand. The pathology careers provide an extremely huge number of opportunities and if you want to be a part of the medical field you can consider being a pathologist. If you want to know more about a career in pathology in India then continue reading this article.

Speech Therapist

Gynaecologist.

Gynaecology can be defined as the study of the female body. The job outlook for gynaecology is excellent since there is evergreen demand for one because of their responsibility of dealing with not only women’s health but also fertility and pregnancy issues. Although most women prefer to have a women obstetrician gynaecologist as their doctor, men also explore a career as a gynaecologist and there are ample amounts of male doctors in the field who are gynaecologists and aid women during delivery and childbirth. 

An oncologist is a specialised doctor responsible for providing medical care to patients diagnosed with cancer. He or she uses several therapies to control the cancer and its effect on the human body such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation therapy and biopsy. An oncologist designs a treatment plan based on a pathology report after diagnosing the type of cancer and where it is spreading inside the body.

Audiologist

The audiologist career involves audiology professionals who are responsible to treat hearing loss and proactively preventing the relevant damage. Individuals who opt for a career as an audiologist use various testing strategies with the aim to determine if someone has a normal sensitivity to sounds or not. After the identification of hearing loss, a hearing doctor is required to determine which sections of the hearing are affected, to what extent they are affected, and where the wound causing the hearing loss is found. As soon as the hearing loss is identified, the patients are provided with recommendations for interventions and rehabilitation such as hearing aids, cochlear implants, and appropriate medical referrals. While audiology is a branch of science that studies and researches hearing, balance, and related disorders.

Hospital Administrator

The hospital Administrator is in charge of organising and supervising the daily operations of medical services and facilities. This organising includes managing of organisation’s staff and its members in service, budgets, service reports, departmental reporting and taking reminders of patient care and services.

For an individual who opts for a career as an actor, the primary responsibility is to completely speak to the character he or she is playing and to persuade the crowd that the character is genuine by connecting with them and bringing them into the story. This applies to significant roles and littler parts, as all roles join to make an effective creation. Here in this article, we will discuss how to become an actor in India, actor exams, actor salary in India, and actor jobs. 

Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats create and direct original routines for themselves, in addition to developing interpretations of existing routines. The work of circus acrobats can be seen in a variety of performance settings, including circus, reality shows, sports events like the Olympics, movies and commercials. Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats must be prepared to face rejections and intermittent periods of work. The creativity of acrobats may extend to other aspects of the performance. For example, acrobats in the circus may work with gym trainers, celebrities or collaborate with other professionals to enhance such performance elements as costume and or maybe at the teaching end of the career.

Video Game Designer

Career as a video game designer is filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. A video game designer is someone who is involved in the process of creating a game from day one. He or she is responsible for fulfilling duties like designing the character of the game, the several levels involved, plot, art and similar other elements. Individuals who opt for a career as a video game designer may also write the codes for the game using different programming languages.

Depending on the video game designer job description and experience they may also have to lead a team and do the early testing of the game in order to suggest changes and find loopholes.

Radio Jockey

Radio Jockey is an exciting, promising career and a great challenge for music lovers. If you are really interested in a career as radio jockey, then it is very important for an RJ to have an automatic, fun, and friendly personality. If you want to get a job done in this field, a strong command of the language and a good voice are always good things. Apart from this, in order to be a good radio jockey, you will also listen to good radio jockeys so that you can understand their style and later make your own by practicing.

A career as radio jockey has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. If you want to know more about a career as radio jockey, and how to become a radio jockey then continue reading the article.

Choreographer

The word “choreography" actually comes from Greek words that mean “dance writing." Individuals who opt for a career as a choreographer create and direct original dances, in addition to developing interpretations of existing dances. A Choreographer dances and utilises his or her creativity in other aspects of dance performance. For example, he or she may work with the music director to select music or collaborate with other famous choreographers to enhance such performance elements as lighting, costume and set design.

Videographer

Multimedia specialist.

A multimedia specialist is a media professional who creates, audio, videos, graphic image files, computer animations for multimedia applications. He or she is responsible for planning, producing, and maintaining websites and applications. 

Social Media Manager

A career as social media manager involves implementing the company’s or brand’s marketing plan across all social media channels. Social media managers help in building or improving a brand’s or a company’s website traffic, build brand awareness, create and implement marketing and brand strategy. Social media managers are key to important social communication as well.

Copy Writer

In a career as a copywriter, one has to consult with the client and understand the brief well. A career as a copywriter has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. Several new mediums of advertising are opening therefore making it a lucrative career choice. Students can pursue various copywriter courses such as Journalism , Advertising , Marketing Management . Here, we have discussed how to become a freelance copywriter, copywriter career path, how to become a copywriter in India, and copywriting career outlook. 

Careers in journalism are filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. One cannot afford to miss out on the details. As it is the small details that provide insights into a story. Depending on those insights a journalist goes about writing a news article. A journalism career can be stressful at times but if you are someone who is passionate about it then it is the right choice for you. If you want to know more about the media field and journalist career then continue reading this article.

For publishing books, newspapers, magazines and digital material, editorial and commercial strategies are set by publishers. Individuals in publishing career paths make choices about the markets their businesses will reach and the type of content that their audience will be served. Individuals in book publisher careers collaborate with editorial staff, designers, authors, and freelance contributors who develop and manage the creation of content.

In a career as a vlogger, one generally works for himself or herself. However, once an individual has gained viewership there are several brands and companies that approach them for paid collaboration. It is one of those fields where an individual can earn well while following his or her passion. 

Ever since internet costs got reduced the viewership for these types of content has increased on a large scale. Therefore, a career as a vlogger has a lot to offer. If you want to know more about the Vlogger eligibility, roles and responsibilities then continue reading the article. 

Individuals in the editor career path is an unsung hero of the news industry who polishes the language of the news stories provided by stringers, reporters, copywriters and content writers and also news agencies. Individuals who opt for a career as an editor make it more persuasive, concise and clear for readers. In this article, we will discuss the details of the editor's career path such as how to become an editor in India, editor salary in India and editor skills and qualities.

Linguistic meaning is related to language or Linguistics which is the study of languages. A career as a linguistic meaning, a profession that is based on the scientific study of language, and it's a very broad field with many specialities. Famous linguists work in academia, researching and teaching different areas of language, such as phonetics (sounds), syntax (word order) and semantics (meaning). 

Other researchers focus on specialities like computational linguistics, which seeks to better match human and computer language capacities, or applied linguistics, which is concerned with improving language education. Still, others work as language experts for the government, advertising companies, dictionary publishers and various other private enterprises. Some might work from home as freelance linguists. Philologist, phonologist, and dialectician are some of Linguist synonym. Linguists can study French , German , Italian . 

Public Relation Executive

Travel journalist.

The career of a travel journalist is full of passion, excitement and responsibility. Journalism as a career could be challenging at times, but if you're someone who has been genuinely enthusiastic about all this, then it is the best decision for you. Travel journalism jobs are all about insightful, artfully written, informative narratives designed to cover the travel industry. Travel Journalist is someone who explores, gathers and presents information as a news article.

Quality Controller

A quality controller plays a crucial role in an organisation. He or she is responsible for performing quality checks on manufactured products. He or she identifies the defects in a product and rejects the product. 

A quality controller records detailed information about products with defects and sends it to the supervisor or plant manager to take necessary actions to improve the production process.

Production Manager

Merchandiser.

A QA Lead is in charge of the QA Team. The role of QA Lead comes with the responsibility of assessing services and products in order to determine that he or she meets the quality standards. He or she develops, implements and manages test plans. 

Metallurgical Engineer

A metallurgical engineer is a professional who studies and produces materials that bring power to our world. He or she extracts metals from ores and rocks and transforms them into alloys, high-purity metals and other materials used in developing infrastructure, transportation and healthcare equipment. 

Azure Administrator

An Azure Administrator is a professional responsible for implementing, monitoring, and maintaining Azure Solutions. He or she manages cloud infrastructure service instances and various cloud servers as well as sets up public and private cloud systems. 

AWS Solution Architect

An AWS Solution Architect is someone who specializes in developing and implementing cloud computing systems. He or she has a good understanding of the various aspects of cloud computing and can confidently deploy and manage their systems. He or she troubleshoots the issues and evaluates the risk from the third party. 

Computer Programmer

Careers in computer programming primarily refer to the systematic act of writing code and moreover include wider computer science areas. The word 'programmer' or 'coder' has entered into practice with the growing number of newly self-taught tech enthusiasts. Computer programming careers involve the use of designs created by software developers and engineers and transforming them into commands that can be implemented by computers. These commands result in regular usage of social media sites, word-processing applications and browsers.

ITSM Manager

Information security manager.

Individuals in the information security manager career path involves in overseeing and controlling all aspects of computer security. The IT security manager job description includes planning and carrying out security measures to protect the business data and information from corruption, theft, unauthorised access, and deliberate attack 

Business Intelligence Developer

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Social Media as Information Source: Recency of Updates and Credibility of Information *

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David Westerman, Patric R. Spence, Brandon Van Der Heide, Social Media as Information Source: Recency of Updates and Credibility of Information, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication , Volume 19, Issue 2, 1 January 2014, Pages 171–183, https://doi.org/10.1111/jcc4.12041

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Social media are increasingly being used as an information source, including information related to risks and crises. The current study examines how pieces of information available in social media impact perceptions of source credibility. Specifically, participants in the study were asked to view 1 of 3 mock Twitter.com pages that varied the recency with which tweets were posted and then to report on their perceived source credibility of the page owner. Data indicate that recency of tweets impacts source credibility; however, this relationship is mediated by cognitive elaboration. These data suggest many implications for theory and application, both in computer-mediated communication and crisis communication. These implications are discussed, along with limitations of the current study and directions for future research.

Newer communication technologies have increased the possibilities for how people can send and receive information. Social media are one such technology that has seen increased usage as an information source ( Pepitone, 2010 ). For example, social media are being used to seek information about serious topics, such as circulating up-to-the minute information about cholera outbreaks in Haiti and identifying clean water sources during this outbreak ( Sutter, 2010 ). Social media has also seen a great deal of usage by those seeking health information, with 59% of adult Americans (80% of internet users) reporting that they have accessed this type of information online ( Fox, 2011 ). As this Pew Report suggests “people use online social tools to gather information, share stories, and discuss concerns” ( Fox, 2011 , p. 5). Similarly health professions and organizations are seeing the advantages of adopting social media because it is seen as an information equalizer allowing access to health care information to populations who, in the past, would not have this access ( McNab, 2009 ). It provides a sense of privacy for the information seeker in that he/she does not have to disclose personal information in order to obtain health related information.

However, a major question surrounding the use of social media as an information source is how people assess the source credibility of this information (Westerman, Spence & Van Der Heide, 2012 ). This question becomes especially important to answer for users of social media, as the gatekeeping function switches from producers to consumers of information for newer technologies ( Haas & Wearden, 2003 ). These newer channels provide new pieces of information not available in “legacy” channels which may be used to make credibility judgments, such as the ability to see how quickly and recently a page host updates their page. The current study examines how this piece of information impacts a viewer's cognitive elaboration and their perceived credibility of the source.

Social Media and Credibility Judgments

The types of information suggested in the first paragraph of this paper share at least one thing in common: they all deal with uncertain situations highlighted by potential danger. Overall, when uncertainty represents potential danger, people actively engage in information seeking ( Brashers, Neidig, Haas, Dobbs, Cardillo, & Russell, 2000 ; Spence, Lachlan & Griffin, 2007 ). They will seek information from a variety of sources, and will constantly update their information. Mass media have historically been a dominant source ( Murch, 1971 ), possibly because they are generally thought to provide credible, valuable, and timely information ( Heath, Liao, & Douglas, 1995 ). However, along with traditional forms of media, newer media are increasingly available for information seeking. One channel that provides many opportunities for this purpose is the Internet. Research suggests that people use the Internet in seeking information about crises ( Spence, Westerman, Skalski, Seeger, Sellnow, & Ulmer, 2006 ). More recently, social media have provided a new and potentially powerful platform for people to use in seeking such information.

Social media are a general category of channels and applications that highlight collaboration and working together to create and distribute content. This collaboration not only consists of creating content together, but also discussing the content in an attempt to improve it collaboratively and to come to a shared understanding of it. Thus, social media are built upon a fundamental characteristic of Web 2.0: they are sites for harnessing collective intelligence ( O'Reilly & Battelle, 2009 ). Many examples of social media exist (e. g., Digg, Facebook, Youtube, Flickr), but one that holds great promise as a social medium for information is Twitter ( http://www.twitter.com ). Twitter is a micro-blogging service that began in March of 2006 ( twitter.com ).

The presence of risk raises an important issue for the consumption of social media. Often the front lines of information come from eyewitnesses who are reporting on very recent events. In many cases, even traditional mass media sources such as major news outlets glean information from these sources prior to breaking news and providing information. Technological challenges in areas afflicted by crises (i.e., down satellite connections, etc.) may slow official news correspondent reports, but social media reports may be much more swiftly distributed. For example, during the January 2010 Haitian earthquake, social media played a key role in disseminating information about this tragedy ( Bunz, 2010 ). As Sutton, Palen, and Shklovski (2008) suggest, social media are gaining prominence as an information source in disaster and risk time even though the accuracy of the information shared through these channel is often unclear. This makes it imperative to learn more about how people evaluate the information they consume on social media websites, especially judgments of the credibility of this information.

Perceived source credibility has been defined as “judgments made by a perceiver…concerning the believability of a communicator” (O'Keefe, 1990, p. 181). Although there is debate about the precise factor-structure of source credibility (see Cronkhite & Liska, 1976 ), one factor structure commonly found includes three dimensions of source credibility: expertise/competence (i. e., the degree to which a perceiver believes a sender to know the truth), trustworthiness (i. e., the degree to which a perceiver believes a sender will tell the truth as he or she knows it), and goodwill (i. e., the degree to which a perceiver believes a sender has his or her best interests at heart.)

Perceived source credibility becomes an increasingly important variable to examine within social media, especially in terms of crisis and risk information. This is because with the increasing amount of information available through newer channels, the gatekeeping function seems to shift away from producers of content and onto consumers of that content ( Haas & Wearden, 2003 ). First conceptualized and coined by Lewin ( 1947 ), and applied to the study of news by White ( 1950 ), gatekeeping is the process through which content creators decide what stories will be covered and reported, and thus, what information is released to consumers. Traditionally there are many people who act as gatekeepers, including journalists, editors, and possibly even advertisers and owners ( Shoemaker & Vos, 2009 ). Along the way, these gatekeepers are assumed to be checking information for veracity, and can be an important part in the process of ensuring the credibility of that information ( Salcito, 2009 ), and are likely perceived to be doing so by the public ( Reese & Ballinger, 2001 ).

The continued growth of new media has meant that information consumers are now far less beholden to what passes through traditional gatekeepers and are able to bypass gatekeepers altogether and turn directly to primary information sources, many of which are information consumers themselves. Because information provided in newer channels often lacks professional gatekeepers to check content, and thus, lacks some of the traditional markers used to determine source credibility, consumers become more responsible for making decisions about the credibility of information online. Therefore in new media environments the gates are now located not only with the information providers but also with the information consumers, who in the new media environment are acting as their own gatekeepers ( Kovach & Rosenstiel, 1999 ). This change has created a shift from the traditional notion of “gatekeeping” to what Bruns ( 2008 ) has referred to as “gatewatching.” Gatewatchers are unable to control the gates through which information passes, but instead keep a constant eye at the gates, and pass what flows through those gates onto others who then make the choice about the topic relevance and usefulness. Therefore gatewatchers fundamentally promote or diffuse information by making sources or stories known to others in the new media environment. Rather than publishing unique information, they make others' information known and add to it. This can be seen in environments such as Facebook when a user publishes a link and then comments on it, and similarly in Twitter.com where one does the same thing or where the user reposts a link. In many respects, this is a hallmark of social media in general; cocreation of content. This notion of “gatewatching” is echoed by Sundar ( 2008 ), who stated “The digital media universe thus presents a dual challenge: (1) the overload of information, entertainment, and other offerings that constantly need organizing and (2) the lack of assurance of any uniformity in content quality, which necessitates a continual monitoring of credibility on the part of users” (p. 77).

It is important to consider that credibility is a perception, and thus is not a quality inherent within a channel or source itself ( Fogg & Tseng, 1999 ). Therefore, many things can impact the perceived credibility of online materials ( Metzger, Flanagan, Eyel, Lemus, & McCann, 2003 ). One model created to articulate and explain the process of making credibility judgments in online settings, and thus a useful framework for explaining ways in which consumers may enact their own personal process of gatekeeping with this type of information, is the MAIN model ( Sundar, 2008 ).

The MAIN Model and Recency of Updates

The MAIN model ( Sundar, 2008 ) describes technological affordances that allow people to heuristically process cues when making judgments about the credibility of an online source. According to the model, system-generated pieces of information known as metrics are one type of affordance which can be used as a heuristic in making credibility judgments. One metric that may be especially heuristically appealing to people is an agency cue. Agency cues capitalize on heuristics that emphasize credibility cues that, for example, are computer- (rather than user-) generated.

One heuristic Sundar ( 2008 ) argues is often utilized is known as the machine heuristic , which is a shortcut through which people assign greater credibility to information that is verified or chosen by a machine or computer than by a person. People likely use this shortcut because a machine is seen as something that has no thoughts, emotions, or other biases, and therefore is perceived to be free from bias (whether or not the algorithm is actually free from bias.) This lack of perceived bias from a machine leads to a greater trust in the information provided by machines compared to the information provided by people such as editors, producers, and the like ( Sundar & Nass, 2001 ). Similarly, this heuristic may also impact the way that consumers of online information process system-generated cues. These cues can even influence credibility judgments more strongly than the content of the message itself, depending on the degree to which such a heuristic is activated and how heuristically or peripherally a message is processed by a user. Past research exploring impression formation on Facebook has found that system-generated cues can be important determinants of social judgments about social media users ( Kleck, Reese, Behnken, & Sundar, 2007 ; Tong, Van Der Heide, Langwell, & Walther, 2008 ; Utz, 2010 ), suggesting that system-generated cues can affect interpersonal judgments of a profile owner.

One system-generated cue that could be important for credibility judgments is the recency (or immediacy) of postings in this type of social media. As Sundar ( 2008 ) suggests, “[m]ore complex examples of autogenerated cues appear in the form of navigational aids offered by algorithms used in search-engine and aggregator sites such as Google News, which transmits cues about the relative recency of the information, among other attributes. These appear as part of—or surrounding—the central content of the site, and emit “information scent” helpful in making quick decisions about the quality of the information available for consumption” (p. 78).

Social media seem designed to cater to those who want information in real time. As Levinson ( 2009 ) has pointed out, one of Twitter's hallmarks is the immediacy of messages. One important avenue to study is how this immediacy, or recency of updates, acts as a cue that can impact credibility. Fogg et al. ( 2001 ) found that something they call the “amateurism” of a website has the biggest impact of decreasing credibility. One of the biggest markers of “amateurism” as they present it is the speed (or recency) of updates. In fact, as they put together their amateurism scale, the two items with the biggest impact on credibility deal with recency of updates, such that updating more frequently is associated with higher credibility. As credibility is a perception, and not something inherent in the channel or website itself, there is no reason to believe that the recency of updating should not also apply to the source of the information presented on a social media site. Furthermore, if, as the machine heuristic ( Sundar, 2008 ) suggests, information provided by a machine (or a system-generated cue) offers especially valuable credibility information because of people's general operating heuristic that “machines don't lie,” and when this heuristic is paired with the recency principle highlighted by Fogg et al. ( 2001 ), a strong influence on credibility judgments may exist. This leads to the first hypothesis of the current study:

H1: Recency of updating on a social media site will be positively associated with source credibility of the site's source.

Another important concept to examine for social media and credibility is cognitive elaboration. Cognitive elaboration is demonstrated in active participation in information processing ( Defleur & Ball-Rokeach, 1989 ). This involvement process manifests in the mental process of attention, recognition and subsequent elaboration (Greenwald & Leavitt, 1984). A central tenet of involvement is the sense that the individual partakes in an active psychological processing of that content. Involvement can be gauged by observing several activities associated with the content. For example, talking about a webpage with others after reading it can be seen as evidence of involvement. As noted by Levy and Windhal (1984), thoughts and discussions after exposure can be seen as a positive type of audience involvement. Similar research has demonstrated that thinking about and sharing media content indicate increased involvement ( Perloff, 1985 ). As noted by Rubin and Perse ( 1987 ), involvement “has been linked to media use motives that are grounded in the importance of the content and reflect a desire to acquire and share information” (p. 63). Moreover, opinion leaders appear to use media content for information acquisition and social utility ( Lemish, 1985 ; Levy, 1978).

Although credibility and cognitive elaboration have not been extensively studied, a closely related concept that has been studied is issue involvement. A study by Homer and Kahle ( 1990 ) examining the effect of source expertise, time of identification of the source, and involvement on persuasion provides some insight for the current paper however. This research found a significant three-way interaction among attitudes toward the persuasive message, attitudes toward the product, and behavioral intention. The study found that under high issue involvement, the high-credibility source was superior to the low-credibility source when the source was disclosed at the beginning rather than at the end of the advertisement. Twitter provides immediate disclosure of the source (source introduced at the beginning), issue involvement and credibility should be positively related. Furthermore, Stoltenberg and Davis ( 1988 ) found that issue involvement was positively related to cognitive elaboration. Thus, the second hypothesis is as follows:

H2: Credibility will be positively associated with cognitive elaboration.

Little research examines the relationship between the heuristic value of recency and the degree of cognitive elaboration that participants engage in when confronted with different levels of recency. Although this area has not been thoroughly researched, it seems plausible that when social media messages are updated more recently, observers of those messages may be more inclined to elaborate on the messages because of the recency cue present in the structure of the message. Consequently one might expect a positive linear relationship between recency and cognitive elaboration. Based on this possibility, the following hypothesis is posited:

H3: There will be a positive association between recency and cognitive elaboration.

In order to test the hypotheses offered in the current study, a 3 condition experiment was designed. A mock Twitter page for the American Heart Association was created to represent a page devoted to the dissemination of information regarding heart disease. Participants viewed the Twitter page, and then responded to measures of cognitive elaboration ( Perse, 1990 ) and source credibility ( McCroskey & Teven, 1999 ).

Participants

The 181 participants in this study came from introductory communication classes at a large university in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Course credit was given for participation.

Participants were asked to view one of three mock Twitter pages (see Figure 1 for an example). The pages were designed to appear as if the user was attempting to disseminate information and recent updates about heart disease. The page was made to appear as one from the American Heart Association for two reasons: First, heart disease is a topic/page that participants were unlikely to be familiar with, and thus, it was less likely that participants would have seen the actual page and would realize that this was a fake page. Second, the assumption was made that an “official” page associated with the topic would be more realistic in terms of fast updates. The three pages represented three different levels of update recency: fast (most recent post approximately 1 minute ago, n = 63), medium (most recent post approximately 1 hour ago, n = 56), and slow (most recent post approximately 1 day ago, n = 62).

Sample mock Twitter page used in study (moderately recent update)

Instrumentation

After viewing the mock Twitter page, participants were asked to respond to two measures: one for cognitive elaboration ( Perse, 1990 ) and one for source credibility ( McCroskey & Teven, 1999 ).

Cognitive elaboration was measured using a version of Perse's ( 1990 ) five-item measure, modified to reflect the previously viewed Twitter page. Using a five-point response scale (5 = strongly agree, 1 = strongly disagree), people reported their level of agreement with each item (i.e., When I looked at this page, I thought about it over and over again). All five items formed a unidimensional solution with acceptable reliability (α = .68), so all five items were averaged to create an elaboration index.

McCroskey and Teven's ( 1999 ) source credibility measure contains three separate constructs: competence, goodwill, and trustworthiness. Each is measured with six separate semantic differential type items, anchored with two antonyms (e.g., moral-immoral) and including a seven point response scale ranging from 1 to 7. All six items measuring competence (e.g., untrained-trained) formed a unidimensional solution with acceptable reliability (α = .86), so all six items were averaged to create a competence index. After removal of one item (self-centered-not self-centered) the items measuring goodwill formed a unidimensional solution with acceptable reliability (α = .72), so the remaining five items were averaged to create a goodwill index. All six items measuring trustworthiness (e.g., untrustworthy-trustworthy) formed a unidimensional solution with acceptable reliability (α = .84), so all six items were averaged to create a trustworthiness index. Moreover, the three unidimensional solutions for the three factors of McCroskey and Teven's credibility measure formed a second-order unidimensional solution on an overall credibility judgment suggesting that the 17 remaining items in the scale could be averaged to form an overall credibility judgment with acceptable reliability (α = .85).

Participants were informed about the research opportunity in class. They were instructed to go to a website designed for the research study. Participants went to the website, and read the informed consent. After clicking on a button called “Begin Study,” they were directed to a program that randomly assigned participants to view one of the three mock Twitter pages. After each participant had viewed the page, they were instructed to click on another link that sent them to the questionnaire. Once they completed the questionnaire, they clicked on another link that sent them to a separate page, in order to enter their names. This ensured participant's names were kept separate from their responses.

Hypothesis 1 predicted that recency of updating on a social media page would be positively associated with source credibility for the page's owner. To test this hypothesis, three planned contrast analyses assessed whether the data displayed a linear relationship between recency of updates and each of the three dimensions of source credibility (see Table 1 for descriptive statistics for each of the three credibility measures). The results of the planned contrast analysis for competence suggested that the linear pattern predicted between recency and competence was not evident in the data, t (171) = 0.188, p = .426 (one-tailed). Additionally, neither trustworthiness, t (176) = 0.783, p = .218 (one-tailed), nor goodwill, t (176) = 0.673, p = .251 (one-tailed), displayed the expected pattern. Moreover, the predicted linear pattern was not consistent with the gestalt credibility measure, t (178) = 0.573, p = .284 (one-tailed). Thus, the data were not consistent with hypothesis 1.

Descriptive Statistics of Credibility by Condition [means and (SD)]

Hypothesis 2 predicted a positive association between credibility and cognitive elaboration. To test this hypothesis, the bivariate correlations between cognitive elaboration and each of the three credibility measures were analyzed. The correlations between elaboration and competence [ r (172) = .289, p < .001], elaboration and goodwill [ r (177) = .293, p < .001], and elaboration and trustworthiness [ r (177) = .328, p < .001] were all statistically significant. The gestalt credibility measure was also positively associated with cognitive elaboration, r (179) = .342, p < .001. Thus the data were consistent with hypothesis 2.

Hypothesis 3 predicted that a positive relationship would exist between recency of updates and cognitive elaboration. To test this hypothesis, a planned contrast analysis evaluated whether there were significant linear differences in measures of cognitive elaboration among each of the three experimental conditions such that the fastest updates elicited the most elaboration, etc. A contrast analysis suggested that a linear pattern of the sort suggested above was consistent with the data, t (178) = 1.692, p = .046 (one-tailed), η 2 = .016. (See Table 2 for descriptive statistics). Thus, it seems that recency of updates does have a positive linear relationship with cognitive elaboration, and the data is consistent with hypothesis 3.

Descriptive Statistics of Cognitive Elaborations by Conditions [means and (SD)]

Post hoc analyses

The results of the hypothesis tests suggested that a possible mediation effect between recency of updates and credibility measures was present in the data. The data seemed, at a descriptive level, to suggest that recency of updates indirectly affected credibility judgments through cognitive elaboration. Consequently, a path analysis evaluated the possibility that the effect of recency of updates on credibility was mediated by the amount of cognitive elaboration in which a participant was engaged. The data were consistent with this mediational model, χ 2 (1, N = 181) < 0.01, p > .99, CFI > .99.

The current study was designed to examine the impact that the recency/speed of updates on a social media page had on judgments of source credibility and the amount of cognitive elaboration a viewer had after exposure to the page. Specifically, participants looked at a Twitter page about heart disease in one of three recency conditions, and then responded to measures of cognitive elaboration ( Perse, 1990 ) and source credibility (McCrosky & Tevern, 1999). Data are consistent with the notion that recency of updates impacted cognitive elaboration, which in turn impacted source credibility. These findings, as well as some limitations and directions for future research are discussed in more detail below.

Study Findings

The current study predicted that recency of updating would have a positive linear effect on perceived source credibility such that faster updates would lead to increased source credibility. The data showed that this linear effect did not occur for any of the three factors of source credibility, nor did it occur for the gestalt factor of overall credibility. However, this nonsignificant finding is qualified by the findings for hypothesis two and three and a post hoc model test.

In this study, a positive relationship between recency of updates on a Twitter page and the cognitive elaboration that viewers of that page would partake in was hypothesized and found such that faster updates were associated with greater cognitive elaboration. The current research also predicted a positive relationship between credibility and cognitive elaboration. Significant correlations were found between cognitive elaboration and each of the individual factors of source credibility and the gestalt credibility measure. Thus the data were consistent with this prediction as well. Based upon these findings, a post hoc model predicting that faster updates would lead to increased cognitive elaboration, and increased elaboration would lead to increased source credibility was tested. The data were consistent with this post hoc model.

The findings suggest that recency of updates might not have a direct impact on source credibility, but instead, that cognitive elaboration is a mediator in the relationship between recency of updates and credibility. This suggests that cognitive elaboration is an important variable to consider in future studies of source credibility. It also suggests that Sundar's ( 2008 ) notion of the machine heuristic may operate in part because system-generated cues can create a situation that consumers of information need to think more about, and this thinking leads to higher judgments of credibility.

These data also suggest that there are heuristic cues that people attend to when making credibility judgments about information presented through social media. The immediacy of updating that is a hallmark of Twitter ( Levinson, 2009 ) is likely a major reason this channel is growing in use for informational purposes, including under situations of risk and crisis. The changing nature of risks and crises has contributed to concerns about the best ways information about them can be obtained, and to accomplish this goal, people are apparently turning to Twitter and other social media to share information, react to the situation, and rally support, as other examples in this paper suggest. As new technologies allow the public to obtain information faster and under circumstances that even a few years ago were virtually impossible, use of such new technologies may be another direction for increased future research.

Limitations and Future Directions

Perhaps the biggest limitation is the small effect size of the linear relationship between recency of updates and cognitive elaboration. Even though the relationship was statistically significant, the effect size is small. One possible reason (and potential limitation for the study) is the type of information used in the mock Twitter pages. Although heart disease is a major risk, it is not one that that inherently requires very recent updates. This could be a major reason that hypothesis one was not supported. Future studies examining a topic that requires faster updates might see an increased effect size between recency and cognitive elaboration. A more urgent topic might also increase the direct effect of recency on credibility, as a topic that requires fast updates (such as a crisis event) is likely to be more relevant and involving for people searching for information about the topic. However, conducting the necessary study to examine this will prove difficult. It will seemingly require manipulating a “crisis” event that will be believable enough to convince people it is a crisis while being ethical enough not to send them into a panic. Alternatively, it will require examination of social media and responses to it as a crisis unfolds in a more natural setting. Notably, this increases the importance of what was found in this study, as recency of updates was found to have a direct effect on cognitive elaboration and an indirect effect on credibility even for a topic where recency should not necessarily matter. Thus, future studies can include this recency of updating as an important concept to study, and can more completely examine issues of topic and relevance in these studies.

A similar limitation of the current study is the sample used. College students were used for this research in part because they are heavy users of social media. However, the topic chosen for our mock Twitter page, heart disease, is possibly not one that students felt personal relevance toward. This could have severely limited the participants' involvement with the topic. It is possible that future research, using topics with more personal relevance, may result in different findings, especially in regard to the effects sizes found.

One other potential limitation of the current study is the cognitive elaboration scale ( Perse, 1990 ) utilized. First, although the reliability of the scale was acceptable (α = .68), it was relatively low. However, this actually suggests that relationships in the current study may be stronger than reported, as low reliabilities cause underestimation of relationships in simple correlation and regression analyses ( Osborne & Waters, 2002 ). One reason the relatively low reliability may have occurred is that this is a general scale, measuring general ideas of thinking. It would be interesting for future research to examine what specific thoughts the recency of updating leads to, and what specific thoughts lead to credibility judgments. For example, it may be that thinking more about the content of the social media page may lead to increased credibility, and thinking more about the heuristic cue itself may actually decrease it. This is speculation, and future research would be necessary to test this possibility.

The findings and questions which emerged from the data become particularly important as the use of social media continues to rise. The changing nature of risk and crisis has contributed to rising concerns about the best ways various publics can obtain information. Further research is needed on the use of social media for risk and crisis events overall. As new technologies allow the public to obtain crisis information faster and in circumstances that a few years ago seemed unlikely, the changing nature and evolving use of such new technologies may be another direction for future research. For example, even though Twitter was not designed for emergency response or crisis communication, the medium appears to be diffusing to aid in disaster response. In literature on diffusion of innovations, this is known as reinvention ( Rogers, 2003 ), which occurs when a user makes changes to an innovation while adopting it. Understanding more about this reinvention process in the diffusion of social media for crisis communication would be very valuable research for future studies. Therefore crisis and emergency practitioners need to be open to the reinvention process and avoid the temptation to impede the process during an extreme event.

For government agencies, emergency responders, organization or individuals/celebrities that use a Twitter page to communicate to stakeholders, the findings suggest that updating information on the page is important, particularly for perceived credibility. Updating too slowly leads to decreases in credibility. Thus organizations, government agencies and others need to ensure that information is sent out via social media frequently. It may be wise for organizations to have multiple individuals with access to the account and training to provide frequent updates. Moreover it may allow other non-organizational actors to act as gatewatchers ( Bruns, 2008 ), updating and reposting the information produced by the organization. Information diffusion by gatewatchers may also have an effect on credibility. Therefore working with and facilitating gatewatchers before a crisis erupts may also be beneficial for organizations.

The current study examined how recency of updates on a social media page impacted source credibility and cognitive elaboration after exposure to the page. As social media becomes a more heavily used information source, even for things as critical as risks and crises, the gatekeeping function of that information also falls more into the hands of the page users, rather than the page creators. As such, it is important to continue learning more about this process, and learning about how and why credibility judgments are made about social media information.

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Utz , S. ( 2010 ). Show me your friends and I will tell you what type of person you are: How one's profile, number of friends, and type of friends influence impression formation on social network sites . Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication , 15 , 314 – 335 .

Westerman , D. , Spence , P. R. , Van Der Heide , B. ( 2012 ). A social network as information: The effect of system generated reports of connectedness on credibility on Twitter . Computers in Human Behavior , 28 , 199 – 206 .

White , D. M. , ( 1950 ). The “gate keeper”: A case study in the selection of news . Journalism Quarterly , 27 , 383 – 390 .

David Westerman is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at West Virginia University. His research focuses on how people form impressions of online information, as well as how people feel telepresence using various communication technologies, and the impact of this experience.

Address : Department of Communication, North Dakota State University, Department #2310, PO Box 6050, Fargo, ND 58108.

Patric R. Spence is an associate professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Kentucky. His research examines how people use various information technologies to obtain and transmit risk and crisis messages.

Address : Division of Instructional Communication & Research, College of Communication and Information, University of Kentucky, 310 Lucille Little Library (LCLI), Lexington, KY 40506-0224.

Brandon Van Der Heide is an assistant professor in the School of Communication at the Ohio State University. His research explores the effects of computer-mediated communication on impression formation and relational communication.

Address : School of Communication, The Ohio State University 3016 Derby Hall, 154 North Oval Mall Columbus, OH 43210-1339.

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Essay on Media And Information Literacy

Students are often asked to write an essay on Media And Information Literacy in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Media And Information Literacy

Understanding media and information literacy.

Media and Information Literacy (MIL) is knowing how to smartly handle and use information from different sources like TV, internet, and books. It’s like learning to swim in a sea of endless news, pictures, and videos.

The Importance of MIL

It’s crucial because it helps you tell what’s true from what’s not. With MIL, you can make better choices about what to read, watch, and share. It’s like having a map in the world of media.

Learning to Check Facts

A big part of MIL is learning to check if something is correct. Before believing a story, see if trusted places also report it. It’s like double-checking your answers in a test.

Using Media Wisely

MIL teaches you to use media in a good way. It means not spending too much time on screens and knowing that not everything online is good for you. It’s about making smart media choices.

Sharing Responsibly

With MIL, you learn to think before you share something online. Ask yourself if it’s helpful, true, and kind. It’s about being a good friend in the digital world.

250 Words Essay on Media And Information Literacy

Media and Information Literacy, or MIL, is knowing how to smartly use the internet, newspapers, books, and other ways we get information. It’s like learning how to fish in a huge sea of news and facts. With MIL, you can tell which fish are good to eat and which might make you sick.

Why MIL is Important

Today, we get bombarded with tons of messages and pictures through our phones, TVs, and computers. Some of these are true, but others are not. MIL helps you sort out the truth from the lies. It’s like having a special tool that helps you know which friend is telling the truth and which is just making up stories.

One part of MIL is checking if something is true or not. Before you believe a story, ask yourself: Who wrote this? Why did they write it? Is there proof? It’s like being a detective, looking for clues to solve a mystery.

MIL also teaches you to use media in a good way. It means spending the right amount of time watching TV or playing games and also using the internet to learn new things. Think of it as a diet for your brain—you need a mix of fun, learning, and rest.

Sharing the Right Information

Lastly, MIL helps you share information the right way. Before you send a message or a picture to others, think: Is it kind? Is it necessary? Is it true? By doing this, you can be a hero who helps stop lies and spread kindness.

500 Words Essay on Media And Information Literacy

Media and information literacy is like learning how to read a map in a world full of signs and messages. It teaches us how to understand and use the information we get from television, the internet, books, and other sources. Just like knowing how to read and write helps us in school, media literacy helps us make sense of the news, advertisements, and even social media posts we see every day.

The Need for Media Literacy

We live in a time when we are surrounded by a sea of information. From the moment we wake up to the time we go to bed, we are bombarded with messages from our phones, TVs, and computers. With so much information coming at us, it’s important to know what is true and what isn’t. This is where media literacy comes in. It helps us tell the difference between facts and opinions, and it teaches us to ask questions about what we see and hear.

Spotting Fake News

One of the biggest challenges today is fake news. This is information that is made to look real but is actually made up to fool people. Media literacy gives us the tools to spot fake news by checking where the information comes from, who is sharing it, and whether other reliable sources are reporting the same thing. By being careful and checking the facts, we can avoid being tricked by false information.

Using Information Wisely

Information isn’t just about news. It’s also about understanding how to use the internet safely and responsibly. Media literacy teaches us to protect our private information online, to be respectful to others, and to understand how our clicks and shares can spread information quickly, for better or for worse. It’s like learning the rules of the road before driving a car.

Advertising and Persuasion

Advertisements are everywhere, trying to persuade us to buy things or think a certain way. Media literacy helps us see the tricks advertisers use to grab our attention and make us want something. By understanding these tricks, we can make better choices about what we buy and believe.

Creating Media

Media literacy is not just about what we take in; it’s also about what we put out into the world. With smartphones and the internet, anyone can be a creator. Media literacy teaches us how to share our own stories and ideas in a clear and honest way, and how to respect other people’s rights and feelings when we do.

In conclusion, media and information literacy is an important skill for everyone, especially students. It helps us navigate through the vast amount of information we encounter every day and use it in a smart and ethical way. By being media literate, we can be better students, smarter consumers, and more responsible citizens in our digital world.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

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Traditional Sources of Information vs. Social Media Essay

Comparative analysis of traditional sources of information and social media.

Days have vanished when television sets, radios, and print materials were the conventional forms of media consumption. This kind of consumption has been replaced by social media platforms and the internet. This discussion, therefore, examines the main sources of media information during the 1960s and 1970s when the targeted interviewee was a youngster. The paper compares such information sources with the current use of social media platforms. The outlined differences show conclusively that the internet has transfigured how human beings exchange information and ideas.

Introduction

The creation and consumption of information have changed significantly within the past century. The invention of the telephone by Alexander Bell in the late 19 th century revolutionized human communication forever (Vivian, 2014). Within the past ten years, the internet has transformed how people get information (Baruah, 2012). Past generations have been characterized by different forms of communication. The present-day generation has mastered the art of using various social media platforms to share and exchange ideas. It is also agreeable that the older generations had the privilege to consume information relayed to them through newspapers, radios, and television screens. This discussion gives a comparative analysis of my personal use of social media and the media consumption of my uncle.

Comparative Analysis

To complete this discussion, I decided to interview my favorite uncle named Johnson. Born in 1961 in the United States, Johnson witnessed some of the events of the Civil Rights Movement (CRM). During the interview, Johnson was pleased to reflect and analyze how media consumption had changed within the last five decades. My uncle indicated that he grew up at a time when TV sets and radios were the major sources of information (Baruah, 2012). During this time, only a small number of households could afford the device. However, my uncle indicated that the number of households with TV sets continued to increase throughout the last quarter of the 20 th century.

The major television networks include the American Broadcasting Company (ABC, the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), and CBS (Baruah, 2012). The respondent also indicated that he was a fan of various television programs such as “The Twilight Zone” and “Star Trek”. Another memorable event mentioned in the event was Bill Cosby’s acceptance speech after winning the Emmy Awards in the year 1968. The other information gained from my respondent was that they used to have a Black and White television set. According to the interviewee, the family purchased its first color TV set in 1975.

My uncle confirmed that many people received news from various newspapers and a small number of TV stations. These sources of information reported both international and local events. However, he indicated that they had to wait until their parents read the newspaper. This understanding shows clearly that the availability of information was scarce compared to the present day (Rajendran & Thesinghraja, 2014). The respondent indicated that only a few households could receive a newspaper every day during the time. This fact shows clearly that many people were unable to get quality information promptly. Media ubiquity was lacking during the period.

Individuals who wanted to get information about various politicians and celebrities relied on different newspapers and TV channels. For instance, Johnson stated clearly that he was great fun of Aretha Franklin throughout the 1970s. The TV also played a significant role in informing more people about the political events of the period (Baruah, 2012). The respondent indicated that the media made it easier for him to follow the lives of famous people such as Muhammad Ali, Jimmy Carter, Phyllis Schafly, and Richard Nixon. The two media platforms also informed more people about the issues surrounding the infamous Watergate Scandal.

This information shows that my uncle’s generation was unable to get much information about celebrities and politicians. These individuals could only gain little knowledge about such personalities by listening to songs and speeches on the radio. The radio was important because it reported various events and happenings during the period (Vivian, 2014). The radio was also relevant because it informed more people about eminent musicians of the time. The entertainment sections of various newspapers narrated the stories of different musicians such as Bob Marley, Aretha Franklin, and Elvis Presley. That being the case, members of this generation relied on TVs, radios, and newspapers for media consumption when they were young.

My generation has been privileged to share ideas and knowledge through some media platforms. Having been born in the United States, I have received numerous ideas from various television channels, radio stations, and social media platforms. During my childhood, I could watch various TV shows, cartoon programs, and movies. The availability of various media platforms made it easier for me to understand many things about popular culture (Rajendran & Thesinghraja, 2014).

The consumption of media has increased tremendously within the past decade. The internet has revolutionized how news and information are delivered to different people. I am able to connect my laptop to the internet and access every television channel, radio station, music database, or documentary. Members of our generation also have access to veracious social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. These platforms are making it possible for many individuals to gather information and get instantaneous news (Vivian, 2014).

I also have a smartphone that makes it easier for me to connect with my friends, relatives, celebrities, and classmates. To begin with, many mobile devices make it easier for users to get breaking news, advice, and quotes (Vivian, 2014). This development has been enabled by the continued use of various applications. For example, several newspaper apps make it easier for many people to get news about every current event. During my uncle’s youth, members of the society had to wait for information from newspapers and radios. More often than not, most of the information was outdated, unlike today.

Different social media platforms have changed the way young people communicate. For instance, Facebook makes it possible for people to communicate instantly without any barrier. Facebook users can share and communicate instantly with their friends whenever they want. Some apps such as Twitter inform people about events as they happen. The use of social media platforms has been observed to deliver positive results to the people who use them. Increased access to instant information is something that has the potential to save lives and improve the living conditions of many people around the globe. Trending events on Twitter help people respond accordingly to them. This approach has augmented the rate and manner through which human beings share information (Baruah, 2012).

Other apps deliver instant information to many young people today. For example, I have been consuming much information trough different apps such as Snapchat and Flipboard. The discovery option on Snapchat helps me get access to various news and magazines (Vivian, 2014). Some of these magazines include Cosmopolitan, People, and Buzzfeed. Snapchat has improved the manner in which people access various publications such as the Daily Mail News. I have also been using the Flipboard app to read different content. The major contents include technology, business, and photography.

My uncle relied on the radio to follow the lives of his favorite musicians and politicians. Flipboard is presently used by individuals who want to know more about their favorite celebrities and personalities (Vivian, 2014). The app also allows me to access to different newspapers and publications. My uncle was supposed to read daily print newspapers. Today I can read many online newspapers without necessarily having to purchase a printed copy.

The internet can also be accessed using handheld devices such as tablets, smartphones, and laptops. The internet gives people the power to read books, poems, and journal articles without visiting a physical library. The readers can also get instant information whenever an event is taking place. For example, football fans can follow live matches without necessarily visiting the stadiums (Vivian, 2014). This fact shows that the level of media usage and consumption has increased enormously within the past fifteen years.

Social media has helped many youngsters overcome most of the barriers associated with traditional sources of information such as radios, newspapers, and television sets (Rajendran & Thesinghraja, 2014). New platforms such as Whatsapp and Facebook are used by people across the globe. Many youths are able to chat and connect with friends and unknown people. They can also make friends with individuals from every corner of the globe. The invention of new platforms such as Skype has improved the speed of communication. People can video-call their friends and communicate instantly. That being the case, modern technology has continued to change the manner in which information and data are transferred from one person to another (Vivian, 2014). People can also get instant health information using a number of apps.

New methods of information-sharing have emerged within the past fifteen years. Some of these methods were unimaginable four decades ago. During his childhood, my uncle could only get information from a newspaper or a TV set. Things are totally different in the 21 st century. The emergence of the internet has offered new opportunities for many young people. The internet supports different social media platforms. Such platforms have increased the level of media consumption at an unprecedented rate. Media ubiquity is something that has been achieved due to the continued use of the internet (Rajendran & Thesinghraja, 2014). Since information is a source of power, members of the present generation should look back and appreciate the strides that have been made within the past four decades. By so doing, the proliferation of different media platforms will eventually transform the lives of many communities.

Baruah, T. (2012). Effectiveness of social media as a tool of communication and its potential for technology enabled connections: a micro-level study. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 2 (5), 1-10.

Rajendran, L., & Thesinghraja, P. (2014). The impact of new media on traditional media. Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research, 22 (4), 609-616.

Vivian, J. (2014). Media of mass communication. Upper-Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

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25 Information Sources: Media

Media can refer to many things, but here it describes information sources that do not align to our traditional formats (books, magazines). These are usually visual in nature (such as film), or perhaps audio (such as music). Sometimes, we don’t realize media resources are an option when doing research, but they can be very helpful, and for some cases can be even stronger resources than our traditional formats. Here are a few examples of media resources you might encounter as you conduct your own research projects.

Documentaries

Documentaries are films that provide us with a deep look at a specific topic. Non-fiction in nature, documentaries can advocate for a cause—which means we must be careful to notice any possible bias. They can be journalistic in nature where they report on an event, happening, people, and/or other subjects in detail. They can share an experience someone went through. Documentaries may also be entertaining, so that they are interesting to watch.

Radio Programs (Broadcasts and Interviews)

Radio programs can be a strong information source, especially if you’re looking for interviews with specific people. They also report out on current events, but unlike our traditional formats where the information is printed and can be referenced later easily, radio broadcasts are usually one-time events. Fortunately, some of the programs are captured in library databases through transcripts, and other times, you might be able to find recordings of them online.

Television Programs (News and Educational Programming)

News and educational programming can be useful sources when doing research. News programs provide details about current events, and may also broadcast interviews. Educational programming might include documentary-style delivery of information, but it can also be instructive. In some cases, there may be dedicated channels that provide specialized content such as Discovery, The History Channel, and C-SPAN.

Image: “ Microphone ” by Freepik , adapted by Aloha Sargent , from Flaticon.com

Image: “ Movie ” by Freepik , adapted by Aloha Sargent , from Flaticon.com

Image: “ Television ” by Smashicons , adapted by Aloha Sargent , from Flaticon.com

Introduction to College Research Copyright © by Walter D. Butler; Aloha Sargent; and Kelsey Smith is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Media and Information Sources – Brief Explanation About The Sources

Here are the various media and information sources and a short explanation of each..

MEDIA AND INFORMATION SOURCES – There are different types of sources of media and information, here’s an explanation.

The media and information greatly affect the communication processes and in time, people have come up with several forms of sources for this. And nowadays, information can be picked anywhere virtually.

But before the web pages and media, we have books, journal and magazine articles, expert opinions, and encyclopedias as our sources of information.

Here are the major types of sources:

The word indigenous means native or local and indigenous knowledge refers to knowledge that is unique to a specific society. This knowledge reflects the culture of a person.

The following are the forms of indigenous media:

• Folk or Traditional Media
• Gatherings and Social Organizations
• Direct Observation
• Oral Instruction

This is a place where you can find books, manuscripts, recordings, or films. These materials are kept for public use and they are not for sale.

These are the types of libraries:

• Academic (in colleges and universities)
• Public (in cities and towns)
• School (for students from Kindergarten to Grade 12)
• Special (found in special fields like hospitals, corporations, museums, the military, private business, and the government)

Getting information from the internet becomes crucial these days. When you choose the internet to get information, there are some considerations to make in order to make sure that the information is verified and true.

It must be reliable, accurate, valuable, has authorship, and there’s timeliness. Always look for the author, date of publication, citations, and domain.

. com means commercial .gov means government .edu means educational . org means a nonprofit organization .mil means military

• Types Of Media – Print, Broadcast, and New Media (Brief Discussion)
• Kasaysayan Ng Wikang Pambansa Sa Panahon Ng Amerikano

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• Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources of Information in the Sciences
• Types of Information Sources

Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources of Information in the Sciences: Types of Information Sources

• Videos about Information Sources
• Science Databases and Popular Science Sources

What are Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources of Information?

What are the different types of sources of information used in research .

Generally, there are three basic types of information sources in research including primary, secondary, and tertiary.  They are as follows:

Primary Sources:  Primary sources of information are first hand accounts of research or an event including original scholarly research results, raw data, testimony, speeches, historic objects or other evidence that provides unique and original information about a person or an event. These sources were created at the time which the observation or event occurred but can also be created later by an eyewitness.  Primary sources allow researchers direct access to original ideas, events, and data. Some examples of primary sources include published original scholarly research articles, original creative works, and eyewitness accounts of contemporaneous events.

Secondary Sources:    Secondary sources analyze, synthesize, evaluate, and interpret primary sources (or other secondary sources). Secondary sources are created after an event has occurred and are written by someone who did not experience or observe the event first hand.  Some examples of secondary sources include articles that interpret original scholarly research results and critiques of original creative works.  Secondary sources are not evidence, but rather comment on and discuss previous evidence.

Tertiary Sources:   Tertiary sources of information provide broad overviews or condensed narratives of topics. They analyze and summarize the information in primary and secondary sources in order to provide background on a idea, event, or topic. Tertiary resources often provide data in a convenient form and provide context of the topic for a frame of reference.  Some examples of tertiary sources include textbooks, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and almanacs.

Examples of Information Source Types

A word about wikipedia.

• Wikipedia: A Good Starting Point But NOT A Citable Source

What is Pop-sci?

What is pop-sci?

Elements of a Scholarly Research Article

Common elements of a scholarly article:

• Authors and their credentials
• Introduction including background information on subject, literature review, statement of research problem, and hypothesis
• Limitations of research
• Recommendations for further research

Quick Summary

• Next: Videos about Information Sources >>
• Last Updated: Dec 7, 2023 8:46 AM
• URL: https://libraryguides.uwsp.edu/InformationSourcesInTheSciences

ASSESSMENT 6: MEDIA AND INFORMATION SOURCES

Quiz   by Jenny Losenada

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• Q 1 / 15 Score 0 These information sources are described as original, or "first hand" material of information, created by the person directly involved in an activity or an event 29 Secondary Source Primary Source Tertiary Source First Hand Source

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• Q 1 These information sources are described as original, or "first hand" material of information, created by the person directly involved in an activity or an event Secondary Source Primary Source Tertiary Source First Hand Source 45 s
• Q 2 It is a computer network that enables computer users all over the world to share information for a variety of purposes. WWW Internet Intranet Cyberspace 45 s
• Q 3 An information source that includes folklore, folk music, dances, and other indigenous art Traditional Media Indigenous Media Broadcast Media Integration Media 45 s
• Q 4 Information is transmitted via local channels or forms. It is a method of preserving, transmitting, and adapting culture. Indigenous information Indigenous knowledge Indigenous media  Indigenous communication 45 s
• Q 5 This kind of library serves colleges and universities Public  School Academic Special 45 s
• Q 6 On evaluating the information , these refers to the closeness of the report to the actual data Reliability Validity Timeliness Accuracy 45 s
• Q 7 Another factor in evaluating the information that refers to reliability, accuracy, and value of information may vary based on the time it was produced or acquired. Validity Accuracy Value of Information Timeliness 45 s
• Q 8 Sources of information that consist of  collections of short, factual entries often written by different contributors who are knowledgeable about the topic.  Encyclopedia Books Journals Magazine 45 s
• Q 9 Another source of information contains citations to podcasts, blogs, videos, and other media types. Some databases contain abstracts or brief summaries of the articles, while other databases contain complete, full-text articles. Magazine Database Journals Books 45 s
• Q 10 This kind of library serves specialized environments such as hospitals, corporations, museums, the military, private businesses, and the government. Academic Special Public  School 45 s
• Q 11 The reliability of the information must be verified and evaluated. true false True or False 30 s
• Q 12 In evaluating the information found on the internet, timeliness refers to information that is current and updated frequently false true True or False 30 s
• Q 13 The types of libraries are as follows academic, school, public and private. false true True or False 30 s
• Q 14 One of the skills in determining the reliability of information is to check the domain or owner of the site/page. true false True or False 30 s
• Q 15 A magazine is a collection of articles and images about diverse topics of popular interest and current events true false True or False 30 s

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Opinion How to start winning the information war

Joseph I. Lieberman was a U.S. senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013 and the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2000. Gordon J. Humphrey is a former U.S. senator from New Hampshire. Lieberman drafted this piece with Humphrey in the months before Lieberman died on March 27.

“Democracies are taking a battering,” the editorial board of The Post wrote in December . “Russia and China are running rings around us,” asserts former CIA director and defense secretary Robert M. Gates.

The Post and Gates have underscored our failure to go on the offensive in the information war by using counternarrative that asserts our values and ideals and explains the priceless advantages of freedom, the rule of law, a free press and freedom to assemble and express opinion. This failure has weakened national security and emboldened adversaries.

The regime of Vladimir Putin, for example, brazenly floods computers around the world daily with malicious falsehoods. Americans are particular targets of false narratives designed to sow confusion about our institutions — including our elections — and to undermine American confidence.

Formerly, we thought about national security in terms of battles on land, at sea and in the air. The newest battlefield is the human mind. Our adversaries are fully deployed on that field of battle. We are all but absent. Thus, we are losing the information war by default to malefactor regimes in Russia, China and Iran.

What explains this alarming state of affairs? Lack of leadership and lack of means. No one is in charge of telling America’s still-inspiring story to the world. For three years, the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, part of the State Department, has urged the White House and Congress to designate a lead official in the information war. The recommendations appear to have been ignored. This reflects inattention at the very top.

As for lack of means, since 1999, when Congress unwisely abolished the U.S. Information Agency (USIA), the United States has lacked the capability to fight back using counternarrative. We have the invaluable Voice of America, of course, but VOA’s product is news. News is not counternarrative. It is not the marshaling of truth and fact to tell our story. Putin’s high standing in domestic polls and in some nonaligned countries is proof we need more than news to achieve victory on the battlefield of the human mind. We need counternarrative as well.

Joe Biden was one of 49 senators who voted against abolishing the USIA. It should be an easy walk for the president to take the steps necessary to get us on the offensive.

The president should immediately require the National Security Council to produce a strategic plan that puts us on the offensive, a plan that includes the use of counternarrative. He should designate the undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs with responsibility for executing the plan and ask Congress to fund it robustly. And he should take a personal interest and stay involved.

The personal involvement of President Ronald Reagan in using counternarrative to help win the Cold War is instructive. Reagan appointed a longtime California friend, Charles Z. Wick, who had experience in the motion picture industry, as USIA director. His access was such that Reagan afterward called him “my principal adviser on international information.”

When Congress abolished the USIA, it simultaneously created the office of undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs. The intent was for that office to continue all of the USIA’s activities except for news broadcasting. Unfortunately, the State Department has treated that office as an unwanted child for the past 24 years, underfunding it and leaving it vacant 40 percent of the time, rendering it virtually mute.

As a measure of the counternarrative lost when the USIA disappeared, its archives contain 20,000 films it produced. One even won an Oscar . The films were not newsreels; they were documentaries meant to persuade. They served as counternarrative to Soviet lies and distortion. Very little counternarrative in modern form — videos that could be disseminated on social media — has been produced since.

As an example of what could be, consider the excellent video “ To the People of Russia ,” produced by the office of Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Elizabeth M. Allen. It undermines Putin’s casting of the United States as an enemy by recalling with vivid news clips dramatic examples of Russian and American cooperation, from World War II to the exploration of space. And it supports Russian antiwar protesters. When the U.S. Embassy in Moscow tweeted the video early last year, it provoked a harsh and threatening response from the Kremlin.

The video was produced more than a year ago, and nothing like it has appeared since. That halting effort in counternarrative stands as a metaphor for the larger U.S. failure to engage seriously in the battle for human minds. The president and Congress should take note and act.

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I Hope You All Feel Terrible Now

How the internet—and Stephen Colbert—hounded Kate Middleton into revealing her diagnosis

Updated at 4:04 p.m ET on March 22, 2024

For many years, the most-complained-about cover of the British satirical magazine Private Eye was the one it published in the week after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997. At the time, many people in Britain were loudly revolted by the tabloid newspapers that had hounded Diana after her divorce from Charles, and by the paparazzi whose quest for profitable pictures of the princess ended in an underpass in Paris.

Under the headline “Media to Blame,” the Eye cover carried a photograph of a crowd outside Buckingham Palace, with three speech bubbles. The first was: “The papers are a disgrace.” The next two said: “Yeah, I couldn’t get one anywhere” and “Borrow mine, it’s got a picture of the car.” People were furious. Sacks of angry, defensive mail arrived for days afterward, and several outlets withdrew the magazine from sale. (I am an Eye contributor, and these events have passed into office legend.) But with the benefit of hindsight, the implication was accurate: Intruding on the private lives of the royals is close to a British tradition. We Britons might have the occasional fit of remorse, but that doesn’t stop us. And now, because of the internet, everyone else can join in too.

Read: Just asking questions about Kate Middleton

That cover instantly sprang to mind when, earlier today, the current Princess of Wales announced that she has cancer. In a video recorded on Wednesday in Windsor, the former Kate Middleton outlined her diagnosis in order to put an end to weeks of speculation, largely incubated online but amplified and echoed by mainstream media outlets, about the state of her health and marriage.

Kate has effectively been bullied into this statement, because the alternative—a wildfire of gossip and conspiracy theories—was worse. So please, let’s not immediately switch into maudlin recriminations about how this happened. It happened because people felt they had the right to know Kate’s private medical information. The culprits may include three staff members at the London hospital that treated her, who have been accused of accessing her medical records, perhaps driven by the same curiosity that has lit up my WhatsApp inbox for weeks. Everyone hates the tabloid papers, until they become them.

In her statement, Kate said that after her abdominal surgery earlier in the year, which the press was told at the time was “planned”—a word designed to minimize its seriousness—later tests revealed an unspecified cancer. She is now undergoing “preventative chemotherapy,” but has not revealed the progression of the disease, or her exact prognosis. “I am well,” she said, promising that she is getting stronger every day. “I hope you will understand that as a family, we now need some time, space and privacy while I complete my treatment.”

This news will surely make many people feel bad. The massive online guessing game about the reasons for Kate’s invisibility seems far less fun now. Stephen Colbert’s “spilling the tea” monologue , which declared open season on the princess’s marriage, should probably be quietly interred somewhere. The sad simplicity of today’s statement, filmed on a bench with Kate in casual jeans and a striped sweater, certainly gave me pause. She mentioned the difficulty of having to “process” the news, as well as explaining her condition to her three young children in terms they could understand. The reference to the importance of “having William by my side” was pointed, given how much of the speculation has gleefully dwelt on the possibility that she was leaving him or vice versa.

Read: The eternal scrutiny of Kate Middleton

However, the statement also reveals that the online commentators who suggested that the royal household was keeping something from the public weren’t entirely wrong. Kate’s condition was described as noncancerous when her break from public life was announced in late January . The updated diagnosis appears to have been delivered in February, around the time her husband, Prince William, abruptly pulled out of speaking at a memorial service for the former king of Greece. Today’s statement represents a failure of Kensington Palace to control the narrative: first, by publishing a photograph of Kate and her children that was so obviously edited that photo agencies retracted it, and second, by giving its implicit permission for the publication of a grainy video of the couple shopping in Windsor over the weekend. Neither of those decisions quenched the inferno raging online—in fact, they fed it.

Some will say that Kate has finally done what she should have done much earlier: directly address the rumors in an official video, rather than drip-feed images that raised more questions than they answered. King Charles III has taken a different approach to his own (also unspecified) cancer, allowing footage to be filmed of him working from home. But then again, Kate has cancer at 42, is having chemo, and has three young children. Do you really have it in you to grade her media strategy and find it wanting?

Ironically, Britain’s tabloid papers have shown remarkable restraint; as I wrote earlier this month , they declined to publish the first paparazzi pictures of Kate taken after her withdrawal from public life. They have weighted their decisions toward respect and dignity—more so than the Meghan stans, royal tea-spillers, and KateGate theorists, who have generated such an unstoppable wave of interest in this story that its final destination was a woman with cancer being forced to reveal her diagnosis. If you ever wanted proof that the “mainstream media” are less powerful than ever before, this video of Kate Middleton sitting on a bench is it.

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For Once, the British Tabloids Held Back. It Didn’t Make a Difference.

The online frenzy over Catherine’s health escalated despite a reserved approach by Fleet Street — which promptly blamed Americans for the furor.

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By Michael M. Grynbaum

Days before Catherine, Princess of Wales, ended the wild speculation over her absence from public life by revealing that she is battling cancer, a top royal journalist appeared on British national television and delivered a stark message to the media: Knock it off.

“I think everyone just needs to give her a little bit of space,” Roya Nikkhah, royal editor of The Sunday Times of London, said on “Good Morning Britain.” “This is a woman who’s been in the public eye since she was in her early 20s, and she’s barely put her foot wrong. I think we should all lay off a little bit.”

The idea of an editor at a Rupert Murdoch-owned publication scolding other journalists for nosiness may strike some as a bit rich. After all, London newspapers pioneered the celebri-fication of the House of Windsor, famously hounding the previous Princess of Wales, Diana, and exposing the most microscopic details of her and her children’s private lives.

In the case of Catherine’s recent whereabouts, however, the British press largely showed an unusual level of restraint.

Yes, they reported on the frenzy of rumors, but mostly in the guise of scolding social media users for spreading conspiracies. When the American outlet TMZ obtained a paparazzi photo of Catherine and her mother in a car, the London papers unanimously declined to publish it.

And once Catherine’s cancer was revealed, British media were quick to assail their counterparts across the pond, accusing American tabloids and media figures of recklessly amplifying the more outlandish rumors. (British libel laws, it’s worth noting, are far stricter than those in the United States.) Piers Morgan, a former tabloid editor himself, demanded that Stephen Colbert apologize for joking about rumors that Prince William was having an affair.

London’s feisty tabloids often claim the moral high ground, but there are other factors at play. The royal family and Fleet Street are a pair of British institutions whose fates and fortunes have long been entwined — and they are facing similar challenges in the new media age.

Gatekeepers who once controlled the official flow of information — be it palace press secretaries or tabloid editors — are increasingly powerless against the online tide. When it was first revealed that Catherine had undergone abdominal surgery, Kensington Palace declared that it would not offer further updates about her condition. Britain’s royal correspondents, who have a long-term relationship with the future king and queen to worry about, mostly abided by that directive.

But both camps were flummoxed by the rampant misinformation that spread on the internet. The tabloids that once led the way in royal sensationalism — and are still grappling with a long-running phone hacking scandal — were now helpless to shut it down. And palace officials, reluctant to compromise the princess’s privacy, mistakenly believed the rumors would fizzle out.

The result was a narrative driven by online chatter that spun out of the traditional gatekeepers’ control.

“I’ve never seen anything like the reaction we had online and the huge conspiracy around this particular story,” Max Foster, a lead London anchor for CNN, said in an interview. “There was a point, about a week ago, where really sensible, bright friends were coming to me and saying, ‘I think there is something going on here.’”

He spent hours discussing with CNN executives how to responsibly cover the rumors about Catherine without spreading misinformation, a balancing act that he called “a real challenge.”

Helen Lewis, a Briton who writes for The Atlantic, also lamented that some of her friends “became Kate Middleton truthers.” In an essay on Friday, “I Hope You All Feel Terrible Now,” Ms. Lewis argued that the situation revealed the frightening power of social media to hijack rational discourse and, in her mind, force a cancer-stricken woman to reveal a private diagnosis.

“If you ever wanted proof that the ‘mainstream media’ are less powerful than ever before,” she wrote, “this video of Kate Middleton sitting on a bench is it.’”

Even British papers acknowledged, however, that Kensington Palace officials deserved some of the blame for allowing an information vacuum to develop.

It was the lack of an official explanation for Catherine’s absence that prompted self-appointed online sleuths to concoct wild explanations. The theory of a cover-up was supercharged after the palace released a doctored photograph of Catherine and her children.

The royals must “come clean about what’s really going on, or risk drowning in a quagmire of their own creation,” Sarah Vine, the Daily Mail’s influential columnist, wrote after the photo fiasco.

Still, the entire episode suggested something that may be reassuring to British royalists. “What this has revealed, in a weird way, is just how relevant that family still is,” said Eva Wolchover, the British American co-host of the royals podcast “ Windsors & Losers .”

“For awhile now, the story had been ‘Meghan and Harry are gone,’ ‘We have an older king on the throne,’ ‘Young people don’t care about the royal family,’” Ms. Wolchover said in an interview. “The fact the whole world started talking about this in the past few weeks shows they are still as culturally interesting to us as they ever were.”

Michael M. Grynbaum writes about the intersection of media, politics and culture. He has been a media correspondent at The Times since 2016. More about Michael M. Grynbaum