A study published Wednesday by British Medical Journal found more than one in four of YouTube's most viewed COVID-19 English videos contain misleading or inaccurate information. As social media continues to grow as a source of health information, misinformation on COVID-19 is reaching far more people
The digital age dramatically transformed the way we get information and the increase in news consumption from non-traditional outlets has fueled growing concern about the quality of information users encounter.
His research revealed that people with low levels of formal education were more likely to rely on social media and messaging applications for information about coronavirus. They were also more likely to get questions wrong on a simple coronavirus quiz. “Social media is great in a lot of ways because it has allowed people to access information that might not have had access to before. However, on the flip side of that, it's not fact checked,” she said.
“Even for those of us that work in public health, we can say one thing and then the next day it's something else ... it's evolving so quickly that it's hard to discern what is correct and what is not correct,” said Limaye. She explained that people have difficulty living in times of uncertainty, which is rooted in social psychology.“What ends up happening is that people end up sending messages, whether it's inadvertently or on purpose, that contain misinformation.
Nielsen and Limaye both agreed online platforms have a responsibility to help prevent the spread of misinformation and make it easier for users to fact-check information they encounter.“There's nothing wrong with politely questioning things that people share in a tactful way," Nielsen said. “A gentle correction can in fact help counter misinformation ... so if you see something, say something would be a sensible approach.
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