TY - JOUR
T1 - #RumorsCOVID-19
T2 - Predicting the Forwarding of Online Rumors in Wuhan, China and in Israel
AU - Ariel, Yaron
AU - Elishar-Malka, Vered
AU - Seah, Shuo
AU - Weimann-Saks, Dana
AU - Weimann, Gabriel
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2022.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - COVID-19 ushered in almost unprecedented socioeconomic and political challenges. A typical social reaction during such emergencies is rumormongering, which has intensified since the advent of social media. This study explored factors affecting users’ willingness to spread pandemic-related rumors in Wuhan, China and Israel. We tested a multi-variant model of factors affecting the forwarding of COVID-19 rumors. In an online survey conducted in April–May 2020, users of each country's leading social media platform (WeChat and WhatsApp, respectively) reported on patterns of exposure to and spread of COVID-19 rumors, as well as on their motives for doing so. Despite major differences between the two societies, interesting similarities were found: in both cases, individual drives, shaped by personal needs and degree of negative feelings, were the leading factors behind rumormongering. Exposure to additional sources of information regarding the rumors was also a significant predictor, but only in the Chinese case.
AB - COVID-19 ushered in almost unprecedented socioeconomic and political challenges. A typical social reaction during such emergencies is rumormongering, which has intensified since the advent of social media. This study explored factors affecting users’ willingness to spread pandemic-related rumors in Wuhan, China and Israel. We tested a multi-variant model of factors affecting the forwarding of COVID-19 rumors. In an online survey conducted in April–May 2020, users of each country's leading social media platform (WeChat and WhatsApp, respectively) reported on patterns of exposure to and spread of COVID-19 rumors, as well as on their motives for doing so. Despite major differences between the two societies, interesting similarities were found: in both cases, individual drives, shaped by personal needs and degree of negative feelings, were the leading factors behind rumormongering. Exposure to additional sources of information regarding the rumors was also a significant predictor, but only in the Chinese case.
KW - COVID-19
KW - online rumors
KW - pandemic
KW - personal needs
KW - rumors credibility
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85123743243&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/17480485221074848
DO - 10.1177/17480485221074848
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85123743243
JO - International Communication Gazette
JF - International Communication Gazette
SN - 1748-0485
ER -