How rumors spread on social media during weather disasters
Published September 19, 2018 This content is archived.
An article on the website of the National Science Foundation about how rumors spread on social media during weather disasters reports on NSF-supported research by Jun Zhuang, associate professor of industrial and systems engineering.
The research used a combination of social networking, content analysis and surveys to understand the role of social media in communicating during disaster preparedness and response.
Zhuang and co-PI Janet Yang, associate professor of communication, wrote, “Our research has shown that the general public is not very good at differentiating truth from rumor related to disasters. The public tends to spread rumors and is unlikely to correct false information, even after it has been debunked. On the bright side, our research also shows that the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other official governmental accounts have the power to stop rumors, especially when these agencies act quickly.”
