How Misinformation Spreads
Among the more worrisome aspects of dis- and misinformation in the digital age are the number of people it can reach in a short time, and the persistent recurrence of its narratives in online spaces. What facilitates its spread on social media? How do traditional media amplify disinformation? This collection addresses scholarship on network effects and individual behaviors in spreading misinformation.
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Teaching & Learning
Explore course modules, handouts, teaching tools and syllabi about dis- and misinformation.
Latest News on How Misinformation Spreads
For a decade and a half, Facebook has dominated the landscape of digital social networks, becoming one of the most powerful arbiters of online speech. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, over two billion users leverage the platform to post, share, discuss, react to, and access content from all over the globe. Through […]
By Kate Klonick
Misinformation is one of the most critical issues of recent years, which does harm to democracy, economics, and society. Despite all the attempts, traditional techniques are not powerful enough to address new challenges arising from the 4Vs (volume, variety, velocity, veracity) of Big Data. First, large volumes of data on social platforms are generated at […]
By Karl Aberer, Ioannis Katakis, Quoc Viet Hung (Henry) Nguyen, & Hongzhi Yin
The rapid rise of social media over the past two decades has brought with it a surge in misinformation. Online debates on topics such as vaccinations, presidential elections (pdf) and the coronavirus pandemic are often as vociferous as they are laced with misleading information. Perhaps more than any other topic, climate change has been subject […]
By Kathie Treen, Dr Hywel Williams, & Dr Saffron O’Neill
We are looking for a postdoctoral fellow to join the Observatory on Social Media (OSoMe, pronounced awe•some) at Indiana University Bloomington (IUB) under the direction of Filippo Menczer. The research will address the intersection of computing, network, data, and media sciences with a focus on (mis/dis)information diffusion and the detection and countering of online manipulation. […]
By CNetS
In recent weeks, as demonstrations against racism spread across the country, residents in at least 41 U.S. cities and towns became alarmed by rumors that the loose collective of anti-fascist activists known as antifa was headed to their area, according to an analysis by The New York Times. In many cases, they contacted their local […]
By Davey Alba & Ben Decker
For a decade and a half, Facebook has dominated the landscape of digital social networks, becoming one of the most powerful arbiters of online speech. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, over two billion users leverage the platform to post, share, discuss, react to, and access content from all over the globe. Through […]
By Kate KlonickMisinformation is one of the most critical issues of recent years, which does harm to democracy, economics, and society. Despite all the attempts, traditional techniques are not powerful enough to address new challenges arising from the 4Vs (volume, variety, velocity, veracity) of Big Data. First, large volumes of data on social platforms are generated at […]
By Karl Aberer, Ioannis Katakis, Quoc Viet Hung (Henry) Nguyen, & Hongzhi YinThe rapid rise of social media over the past two decades has brought with it a surge in misinformation. Online debates on topics such as vaccinations, presidential elections (pdf) and the coronavirus pandemic are often as vociferous as they are laced with misleading information. Perhaps more than any other topic, climate change has been subject […]
By Kathie Treen, Dr Hywel Williams, & Dr Saffron O’NeillWe are looking for a postdoctoral fellow to join the Observatory on Social Media (OSoMe, pronounced awe•some) at Indiana University Bloomington (IUB) under the direction of Filippo Menczer. The research will address the intersection of computing, network, data, and media sciences with a focus on (mis/dis)information diffusion and the detection and countering of online manipulation. […]
By CNetSIn recent weeks, as demonstrations against racism spread across the country, residents in at least 41 U.S. cities and towns became alarmed by rumors that the loose collective of anti-fascist activists known as antifa was headed to their area, according to an analysis by The New York Times. In many cases, they contacted their local […]
By Davey Alba & Ben Decker 
October 16, 2020 - October 17, 2020