The isolation measures taken by some European countries, such as Italy and Spain, have meant that people have to confine themselves in their homes without the possibility of carrying out leisure activities abroad. As a consequence, the time that Internet users spend to inform themselves, and also to misinform themselves, about the pandemic of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, or new coronavirus, increases.
Stanford University, through the website phys.org, publishes this week an interview with Jeff Hancock, Professor of Communication in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. In it, Hancock warns that social networks, although they can be an excellent tool to communicate with our loved ones during isolation, would also be a source of erroneous information and full of bad advice that can be very dangerous.
Social networks are demonized and exalted in equal measure. Although abusive use can be harmful, social media is also an important way of connecting with our friends and family. “This connection with our loved ones is incredibly important to our psychological health in these times of social distancing,” Hancock explains. However, the excess of information on a certain subject can increase our anxiety towards it, since the human being tends to pay attention to the bad news . According to the expert: “Compared to real news, fake news tends to include information that is more surprising, annoying or is aimed at provoking anger or anxiety.”
On the other hand, we are experiencing an extraordinary situation in the world, and human reactions to the alarm are also reflected in social networks. “The way we communicate on the internet largely reflects our fears and concerns about the virus, and this should come as no surprise. As people struggle to get more information about it, to cope with the interruptions in their normal life and try to understand how they should deal with them, they are using social media to achieve those goals and express their fear and uncertainty ”, Hancock explains.
What Jeff Hancock tells, on the one hand, is a wonderful anthropological event. But, on the other, it carries with it the spread of fake news , which could further increase existing anxiety or uncertainty.
So what leads people to believe misleading or even dangerous information?
“ When people are afraid, they seek information to reduce uncertainty . This can lead people to create information that may be incorrect or misleading because it helps them feel better or allows them to blame others for what is happening, ”Hancock explains.
This would explain why conspiracy theories become so famous, like flat Earth.
And, on the other hand, what would lead content platforms or social media users as influencers to spread false information? For Hancock, money is the primary motivation : “Because media business models are based on the attention economy, bad communicators create misinformation about the coronavirus to get people to attend to their content and ultimately For instance, make money with that attention. ” Ideology also seems to play a role in this matter, according to the expert: “A second motivation is partisanship. Fans are trying to blame political opponents for the crisis. Finally, the third main motivation is to try to disturb and confuse the public ”.
How to learn to distinguish and avoid false information
Therefore, in order for people to discern false information about the new coronavirus, it is important to verify health-related information from official sources. If the website is reputable, it will always offer verifiable references. Instead, signs that should raise suspicion include unknown sources, unusual numbers of ‘likes’ and memes focused on partisan issues.
However, it should be noted that the information on COVID-19 is still confusing and changing, even for the experts themselves. For this reason, it is important that a reference communication medium offers well-contextualized information. It is better not to take anything for sure until we have confirmations from official bodies.
