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ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT
The study examined the different parameters to determine the reliability and trust perception of users on the social media posts about COVID-19. Responses were collected from randomly selected social media users using structured close-ended questions. The study examined the underpinned hypothesis by the Goffman's theory and Bourdieu's theory. Hypothesis testing was done using Chi-square test to analyze the different parameters, to test the reliability and trust perception of users on social media posts. Our analysis showed that the parameters such as source authenticity, cross-checking of information, real-time news etc were not dependent on frequency of use of social media by respondents. It was found that most of the social media posts about COVID-19 were not so reliable and trustworthy. However, social media posts which are shared by competent persons such as doctors, medical practitioners etc. were trusted by the people. We believe our research will be beneficial in understanding the perception of users toward social media in case of a disease outbreak such as COVID-19.

Introduction

It is ironical to mention that all the developed countries including USA, Italy, France, Germany etc. are devastated because of its impact (Mahar, 2020). Global economy is going into slumber. So far, no realistic solution or vaccination has been developed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic (Mayo Clinic, 2020). Quarantine, isolation, and lockdown are the only available solution possible to break the chain of coronavirus infection (Salma, 2020). It is regrettable to state that the excessive amount of information sharing on social media has confused the society, so much so it is being termed as infodemic by some experts (Erku et al., 2020). The World Health Organization defines infodemic as an overabundance of information, some accurate, and some not that makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when needed (WHO, 2020a).

During the COVID-19 pandemic, social media is the most searched place for information gathering. These social media sites have many different techniques to share information at a tremendous speed that can reach vast numbers of people under no time (Morgan, 2020). Social media was used by health researchers and scientists to interact actively with the public in the dissemination of relevant knowledge and awareness-raising. As large number of citizens using social media sites at frequent periods of time, many persons, intentionally and unintentionally, may spread information at an unprecedented pace that may be deceptive and harmful at the same time (Rathinaswamy et al., 2020). Any information we discover affects our beliefs and behaviors. Thus, any misinformation spread via social networking sites may have serious consequences, influencing the viewpoint of those who ingest it (Loftus, 2005). There are millions of people who spread such misinformation, which can be difficult for the government and the experts to fight the pandemic as well as the infodemic (The Economic Times, 2020).

It is important to examine the measures taken to curb the spread of misinformation wave. This wave can create devastating effects on the psychological health of people (panic, anxiety, depression or hypertension) and simultaneously exaggerating the current pandemic crisis. We agree that every media is beneficial if put to proper use and it can be equally harmful if misused. Motivation of this research is to identify certain performed parameters from social media theories to provide imperial base to study how social media has been a medium of sharing communication related to ongoing pandemic situation.

We define objectives of the research as:

1. To determine the reliability of information related to COVID-19 shared on social media.

2. To determine the trust perception of users toward social media posts related to COVID-19.

The objectives of the research raised some questions:

1. What are the factors which affect reliability and trust perception of users on social media?

2. How can reliability and trust perception of users can be measured?

Literature review

In the pandemic situation of COVID-19, social media became the most used medium to gather information. The social media offers freedom of speech and reaches billions of people with incredible speed. According to Rathinaswamy, Health Experts/Scientists should address with the public to provide accurate information and awareness. Simultaneously, other people knowingly or unknowingly may spread misinformation, which is dangerous as it also spreads in no time. So, the government and experts have to fight pandemic along with infodemic (Rathinaswamy et al., 2020).

Depoux's explains the disease COVID-19 is one coincidence of virology in which along with virus the information also spreads at a rapid rate. Outbreak of such a rapid rate of information include rumors and miscommunication. Thus, such infodemic can create the panic among the public. It is to be mentioned that many images found on internet were directly related to people at places such as Chinese restaurants, Chinese tourists, Chinese goods etc. which can be termed as racism and distrust (Depoux et al., 2020).

The occurrence of COVID-19 pandemic has interrupted trade and supply chain globally. In this situation, social media platforms became important for business communication and played a vital role for customers and business enterprises. It helped in proper functioning of business within available resources (Ahani & Nilashi, 2020).

In 2016, communication features of social media interaction regarding Ebola pandemic news were analyzed. It was observed that CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has fewer Ebola posts on Facebook compared to its other health subjects, but it got a huge response from active users on Facebook. It was observed that behavior and involvement of people depend on the subject of the information (Strekalova, 2017).

According to Oh, data obtained during Middle East Respiratory Coronavirus Syndrome (MERS-CoV) in 2015 in South Korea, the two emotions - fear and frustration were analyzed and relation between and social media, risk assessment and proactive action was established. The results of the study convey us that the social media use is positively linked to the emotions and the perceptions of danger to the public. The results also show that the use of social media will substantially improve protective activity through both self-relevant feelings and interpreting danger to the public. It also shows that dismissing collective emotional feelings as unreasonable overreactions during a pandemic might not be successful crisis management to tackle the epidemic. Results will allow decision makers and communicators to understand the complicated nature of infectious disease outbreaks and to establish improved engagement techniques to consider people's reactions and successfully tackle the pandemic scenario (Oh et al., 2020).

Sino-Weibo posts were analyzed related to COVID-19 in the beginning of the pandemic outbreak. It was noted that there was a direct relation between discussion on Weibo and actual COVID-19 spread in the world. So, the timely information by the government authorities can help in eliminating panic in public and in strengthening post-disaster recovery (Han et al., 2020).

WHO considers that misinformation can hamper the response to mitigate COVID-19. So, it suggests steps which should be taken by government and health department to provide health news so that public should refrain from other information, which are overloaded by unverified sources (Laato et al., 2020).

According to the analysis in the article of Brennen, misinformation about coronavirus comes in many forms, from many sources, and makes many different claims. The results suggest that there will be no silver bullet to combat misinformation. To address the spread of misinformation, will take a sustained and coordinated effort by all the news media, platform companies, and public authorities to help people to get accurate and timely information (Brennen et al., 2020, April).

A new concept called CovidSens introduced to alert public about COVID-19 through timely, accurate information. It was caused because the official and the existing information systems were slow and so the people inclined to social media for news (Rashid & Wang, 2020).

During pandemic COVID-19, people used social media for information and sharing opinions. It was felt that situation-based information will identify the gap between thinking of public and administration about the crisis. So, an effective crisis management system can be developed (Li et al., 2020).

In health surveillance system, social media can provide information in real time and at a very low cost which will help in tracking, monitoring and identifying the root cause of disease outbreak and the response of the public toward it. Despite of so many advantages, there are some shortcomings in using social media for health-related information. The reliability, accuracy, confidentiality, and privacy of information are to be taken care (Moorhead et al., 2013).

Misinformation about pandemic is injurious to public health. In Pennycook's study, it was found that the people usually share news content about COVID-19 unknowingly, as they fail to distinguish whether the content is accurate. Making people aware about the false news is a simple way to improve the content which has to be shared on social media. Thus, by analyzing the people's behavior regarding sharing information on social media, we can develop an accurate strategy to combat the spread of misinformation (Pennycook et al., 2020).

Through this literature review, it can be stated that the misinformation in any form, if propagated through social media, can have a devastating effect on any pandemic. This study believes it is utmost important to study the people's behavior related to information sharing so it can be analyzed to propose an effective strategy to combat the spread of misinformation related to COVID-19.

Methodology

COVID-19 pandemic has affected the life of the people world over and use of social media has increased enormously in the lockdown period. With this increase in social media usage, there is a risk of abundance sharing of misinformation. A lot of information regarding treatments and precautions about COVID-19 were observed on social media posts. In this study, we researched about the reliability and the trust perception of users on social media posts about COVID-19.

In this research, the quantitative method is used to collect and analyze data as it can help us reach a large number of people in less time. Quantitative method helped us to categorize, analyze, and interpret the data statistically.

In a pandemic situation like COVID-19, a quantitative method such as closed-ended questions, survey and poll are the best mode to collect data. In this paper, we used closed-ended questions to collect responses from the respondents. These close-ended questions contain five options per question. Questionnaire was carefully prepared after thorough research to analyze certain parameters to check the reliability and trust perception of users on information regarding COVID-19 on social media posts. These options were designed based on Likert Scale, and the respondents can choose these responses according to their degree of agreement and disagreement. Using these responses, it can help us gauge their behavior and opinion toward the statement put in front of them.

The primary data was collected to conduct the analysis. The research initially aimed to have a sample size of 200 participants. Finally, we found 151 responses eligible. The participants were randomly selected with an expectation of about 75% target. Time period for this study was April 2020 and May 2020 to collect data. While collecting the data, it was communicated to the participants that their participation in the survey was voluntary, and they may withdraw from the survey at any moment of time and for any cause. In addition, participants were clearly aware of the aims of the analysis, thus being told that their answers were regarded as confidential and used exclusively for academic purposes and only for the purposes of the relevant research.

The self-compiled flow chart [ Figure 1] describes the different stages of the research:

Data analysis

Data analysis of data collected against the questionnaire was done as per requirements of Chi-Square test. We prepared five hypotheses for five questions in our questionnaire for analyzing reliability of social media posts and five hypotheses for five questions to analyze the trust perception of users on social media. The Chi-Square test was done to check the significance of each hypothesis separately.

The self-compiled Hypothesis design model [ Figure 2] is given below:

Hypothesis testing for reliability

We used Chi-square test to analyze whether the different parameters related to reliability depend on how frequently a user uses social media to read COVID-19 news. Through this, we can identify whether the social media posts on COVID-19 are reliable or not. According to Goffman's theory, social media users share posts to influence their audience and want to control the impressions other have for them. In Bourdieu's social capital theory, each post shared on social media is not their personal taste and are influenced by social thinking and social motivation (Qi et al., 2018). So, we made five hypotheses to test that the social influence can deter the users from comparing and cross-checking the social media posts.

Results

Through above hypothesis tests, we identified that people rarely check the authenticity of the source of information about COVID-19, and they also share posts without cross-checking the information. Frequent social media users receive many posts from unknown sources, and they rarely compare information with news on other media. So, it can be said that information about COVID-19 is not so reliable. However, it was found that users sometimes find treatments and precautions shared regarding COVID-19 useful ( Table 1).

Hypothesis testing for trust perception

We used Chi-square test to analyze whether the different parameters related to trust perception of users depend on how frequently a user uses social media. Through this, we can identify the perception of users toward social media posts on COVID-19 are trustworthy or not. According to Bourdieu's theory, habits of people depend on factors such as education level, social origin and judgment of taste. If the shared posts have similar values as the habits, then the user tends to trust that information (Qi et al., 2018). So, we made five hypotheses based on factors such as origin, source of information and person who is sharing the posts. As these factors can help us identify the trust perception of users on the shared posts about COVID-19.

Result

Through above hypothesis tests, we identified that most of the people trust information about COVID-19 if it is posted by a competent person such as doctors, medical practitioners, nurses, etc. However, majority of people don't find the information trustworthy even if it is posted by agencies such as WHO, ICMR, etc. It was also found that most of the people do not trust the information posted from the Corona Hotspot and even the real time news about COVID-19 was not found trustworthy. It should also be noted that people do not find information about COVID-19 trustworthy, even if the post is from a friend or relative ( Table 2).

Theoretical and practical implications

In our study, we used different parameters to measure the reliability of social media and trust perception of users related to COVID-19. Our focus was only on the social media posts and not on different platforms or agencies. We assumed majority of people who use social media posts frequently will share or read COVID-19 news after checking its source authenticity, cross-checking of news with other media. People would trust the information shared by agencies like WHO, ICMR etc., people in close proximity of corona hotspot, close relative, friend, or by a competent person. But through our analysis we found that people rarely check its source authenticity or cross-check the information with any other media. Most of the people usually don't trust the real time news and shared by agencies such as WHO, ICMR, etc. Even if the posts are shared by a person in close proximity to Corona Hotspot, friend or relative were not so trustworthy. However, majority of people who use social media find posts shared by competent person such as doctor, medical practitioner, etc trustable. This study will help in understanding the behavior and perception of users toward social media posts. Majority of people are aware of harmful effects of misinformation, if it spreads in a pandemic situation and unreliability of social media posts can exaggerate the situation. This could be the reason; people fear and don't trust social media posts related to COVID-19. It was identified that the public exhibited more awareness and maturity while using the information on social media, but the same level of involvement was not shown by different social media platforms themselves. This is implied that an effective strategy needs to be frame by authorities to make social media more responsible. In this context, we believe that this research can be useful for future studies which are related to the outbreak of infectious diseases such as COVID-19. So, we can say that a lot needs to be done to make social media posts more reliable and effective which will simultaneously increase their trustworthiness among the users.

Conclusion (Limitation and future directions)

With the help of our research and data analysis, we conclude that perception of social media users on posts about COVID-19 is trustworthy if the information is posted by a competent person such as doctor, medical practitioner, nurses, etc. But their perception about information shared from any other individual, agency, place etc., were not found trustworthy. Through this we can infer that there is a significant level of awareness among the public about the harmful effects of misinformation related to COVID-19. We also found that social media posts about COVID-19 are not so reliable as people do not cross-verify the information or check its authenticity while reading or sharing COVID-19 news. Thus, we feel that companies owning social media platforms along with government authorities should chalk out an effective strategy to control misinformation. Social media platforms are a splendid medium for sharing information, but we need to make it effective for the society at large. So, it can be a bliss if used appropriately. Also, we as a responsible citizen should fact check before sharing an information with the community.

Nevertheless, our research had certain limitations. It was based on 151 responses only; with bigger sample size the results might have been different. Responses collected were from a large geographical area and we believe perception of people changes with respect to the place he/she lives. We have no control over whether the respondents were giving honest responses. We had a limited time frame. If the research was not bounded by time, then the responses could have been more and so as the results might have been more useful.

This study can be used as a reference for further studies in the future. Methods, limitations, and results of this study will help in improving the approaches in future studies. The results and conclusion of the study can apply to any other disease outbreak in future studies.

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Reliability and trust perception of users on social media posts related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic

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ABSTRACT ABSTRACT The study examined the different parameters to determine the reliability and trust perception of users on the social media posts about COVID-19. Responses were collected from randomly selected social media users using structured close-ended questions. The study examined the underpinned hypothesis by the Goffman's theory and Bourdieu's theory.

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A novel self-learning semi-supervised deep learning network to detect fake news on social media - Multimedia Tools and Applications

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Social media has become a popular means for people to consume and share news. However, it also enables the extensive spread of fake news, that is, news that deliberately provides false information, which has a significant negative impact on society. Especially recently, the false information about t…

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Fake news on Social Media: the Impact on Society

Abstract

Fake news (FN) on social media (SM) rose to prominence in 2016 during the United States of America presidential election, leading people to question science, true news (TN), and societal norms. FN is increasingly affecting societal values, changing opinions on critical issues and topics as well as redefining facts, truths, and beliefs. To understand the degree to which FN has changed society and the meaning of FN, this study proposes a novel conceptual framework derived from the literature on FN, SM, and societal acceptance theory. The conceptual framework is developed into a meta-framework that analyzes survey data from 356 respondents. This study explored fuzzy set-theoretic comparative analysis; the outcomes of this research suggest that societies are split on differentiating TN from FN. The results also show splits in societal values. Overall, this study provides a new perspective on how FN on SM is disintegrating societies and replacing TN with FN.

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Sadiq Muhammed T & Saji K. Mathew

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1 Introduction

In cascading news and sensitive information, the fundamental principles are embedded in the concepts of truth as well as the theories of accuracy in communication (Brennen, 2017; Dwivedi et al., 2018; Orso et al., 2020; Pennycook et al., 2020). However, in the past five years or so, social media (SM) has redefined the structure, dimensions, and complexity of the news (Berkowitz & Schwartz, 2016; Copeland, 2007; Kim & Lyon, 2014). The impact of SM, specifically on political affairs, has been attracting more interest, as SM platforms, notably Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, enable the broad sharing of information and news (Vosoughi et al., 2018). In addition to providing information, another main purpose of SM is to enable people to engage in social interaction, communication, and entertainment (Hwang et al., 2011; Kuem et al., 2017). In particular, many SM posts are looking for support, where reposting aims to spread messages via the multiplicative effect. Consequently, this study purpose is to address the research problem and gap which suggest that SM platform providers are doing little in tackling the spread and cascading of FN on SM.

FN has become a major part of SM, raising doubts about information credibility, quality, and verification. Studies investigating the influence of FN on SM have appeared in various fields such as digital media, journalism, and politics; however, in-depth analyses of the impact of FN on society remain scarce. Furthermore, despite the growing body of research on FN and SM -a significant factor in the fight against FN -(Tandoc et al., 2018), an adequate review of the impact of FN in SM on society is also lacking.

Hence, The aim of this study is to explore the role of SM platform providers in reducing the spread of FN in the society, as the research gap identified from previous studies (Kim & Dennis, 2019; Kim et al., 2019; Knight & Tsoukas, 2019; Roozenbeek & van der Linden, 2019) on the limited research on the impact of FN on the society, leading to this study finding answers to the following research questions (RQs):

Based on the foregoing, this study provides a holistic view of the three focus areas (FN, SM, and societal acceptance) by reviewing research publications, case studies, and experts' opinions to produce a conceptual framework, an insightful and comprehensive meta-framework. This study then analyzes the associations among the three distinct fields from theoretical and practical perspectives. These associations derived from the literature are tested using an analytic technique called fuzzy set analysis to show if they are supported, thereby indicating society's efforts to combat FN. We find that people's interpretations of what is TN or FN affect societal efforts to reduce the spread of FN.

The findings of this study contribute to research on FN on SM, specifically looking at societal impacts. They provide experts and researchers in these fields with insights into how communities are effectively combating the spread of FN and how to implement the useful ideas from this research to strengthen the inputs in tackling FN on SM. Further, the findings of this research not only provide support for the associations but demonstrate a model for societal strategies to manage the spread of FN as well as fact-checking and information verification, thus equipping society with the tools to recognize the differences between FN and TN.

The remaining sections in this study are organized as follows: the theoretical development of the conceptual meta-framework explains the literature for the concept of FN, SM, and societal acceptance. This is followed by researched method section that describes the data, analysis and presents the results of the study. Further, there is a discussion section on the results, implications of this study for research, practice, and the society, finally limitations and future research.

2 Theoretical Development of the Conceptual Meta-Framework

FN is shaped to replicate TN by mimicking its characteristics (i.e. accuracy, verifiability, brevity, balance, and truthfulness) to mislead the public (Han et al., 2017; Kim & Dennis, 2019; Kim et al., 2019). FN is not a new phenomenon, according to Burkhardt ( 2017), FN can be traced back to at least Roman times when the first Roman Emperor had to announce fake news to encourage Octavian to destroy the republican system. During the Roman period, there was no way of verifying and validating the authenticity of news, as challenging authority was classed as treason. The 20th century heralded a new era of numerous one-to-many communication modes such as newspapers, radio stations, and television stations, marking the beginning of misinformation in news (Aggarwal et al., 2012; Kim & Dennis, 2019; Kim et al., 2019; Knight & Tsoukas, 2019; Manski, 1993; Preti & Miotto, 2011; Roozenbeek & van der Linden, 2019). With the emergence of multimedia corporations, the content of FN has been gaining new audiences (Oestreicher-Singer & Zalmanson, 2013), and the arrival of the Internet towards the end of the century improved the phenomenon of FN (Kapoor et al., 2018). As technology advanced in the 21st century, SM arrived, multiplying the dissemination of FN using both one-to-many and many-to-many strategies.

2.1 Understanding FN

FN content, which is divided into individual opinions and scientific consensus on trending issues such as COVID-19, evolution, and climate change, has long existed (Knight & Tsoukas, 2019). However, constant changes in political strategies have fundamentally impacted how information is defined, viewed, and interpreted at all levels of communication (Massari, 2010). Aggarwal and colleagues argued that incorrect scientific, political, and belief-oriented information has significant causes and consequences on individuals that are more politically inclined and those aiming to drive their ideas to wider society (Aggarwal et al., 2012). Therefore, individuals actively seeking information are united in their pursuit of knowledge and political action (Aggarwal & Singh, 2013). It is impossible to change their values and beliefs, abandon old ways and accept the fact-checked news, new methods to enlightening individuals or people with similar beliefs to adopt new states to a degree of news verification and validation (Cao et al., 2015; Centeno et al., 2015; Kim & Lyon, 2014).

2.2 SM and Society

SM plays an important role in helping people reconnect with friends and families as well as find jobs and purchase products and services (Kim & Dennis, 2019; Leong et al., 2015; Lyon & Montgomery, 2015; Miller & Tucker, 2013; Nerur et al., 2008; Pierri et al., 2020). SM platforms are also channels for recruiting interested parties for the continuity and propagation of a long-held ideology. Moreover, people with common demographic attributes use the instant messaging services on SM to communicate more than those without such shared demographics (Baur, 2017). SM platforms are thus online services that mirror real-world activities (e.g., dating services from Facebook, live Instagram feeds from parties).

The societal acceptance strategy can reduce the spread of FN (Haigh et al., 2018; Lundmark et al., 2017; Lyon & Montgomery, 2015; Miller & Tucker, 2013; Nerur et al., 2008; Sommariva et al., 2018). However, the expansion of multiple access points for information and news sharing on SM platforms contributes more to the spread of falsity than reducing its impact. Nevertheless, societal acceptance is considered to be a game-changer for controlling the spread of FN by SM (Egelhofer & Lecheler, 2019). Some empirical studies have analyzed the spread and flow of FN online (Garg et al., 2011; Gray et al., 2011), but little research examines how human judgment can differentiate truth from falsity. To reduce the spread of FN in society, it is important to understand the triangle of FN, the relationships between the constructs from each circle, and the associations that bind the circles, and then analyze the strength of the relationship (Chang et al., 2015; Chen & Sharma, 2015; Matook et al., 2015).

2.3 Meta-framework on the Impact of FN

This study developed a meta-framework based on the literature on FN, SM, and societal acceptance. Each of these perspectives, depicted as circles in the meta-framework, discusses the constructs that contribute to defining the clusters in theory. The constructs that then emerge from each perspective are the foundation for the meta-framework discussing the relationships among their associations. This study further develops notations to define the associations. By combining the three defined circles, these perspectives provide a new theoretical framework, as previous studies have shown that feasibilities to conceptualize phenomenon are at a wide spectrum (Table 1).

This study adopted the epidemiological model as a suitable theory for discussing the meta-framework perspectives. In particular, it employed the conceptual model of the disease triangle. In the 1960 s, the disease triangle was developed by George McNew to understand the pathology and epidemiology of plants and their diseases (Scholthof, 2007). This model stated that for a disease to manifest, three fundamental elements are required: the environment; the infectious pathogen that carries the virus, bacteria, or other micro-organisms; and the host. In this study, FN is defined as an 'infectious pathogen', as it is an epidemic that consists of varieties of fake news (Pan et al., 2017). According to Scholthof ( 2007), the environment determines whether the infection can be controlled; here, as shown in Fig. 1, SM is conceptualized as the environment, the hosts are the readers, individuals, and society.

SM as an environment for cascading of FN has a structure (Chen et al., 2015; Miller & Tucker, 2013; Scholthof, 2007). The aim of the SM structure is to generate contents that attract millions of views by re-sharing news or information targeting a set of specific viewers. As the contents are shared and attained a viral status in the society, SM organizations are leveraging increased profits (Mettler & Winter, 2016). Primarily, SM structure is designed on contents ranking system constructed by algorithm ranking techniques, the method of data management and significance leveling in data priority (Hamamreh & Awad, 2017). News and information are ranked in a methodological order that links constructing a natural distribution by connecting between nodes of the SM (Gerlach et al., 2015; Matook et al., 2015). To understand the ranking system in SM, each node is assigned a unique code by creating iterative process of weights in network, these weights are assigned according to the content structure of the SM node (Brennen, 2017; Burkhardt, 2017; Chen, 2018). According to Brennen ( 2017); Burkhardt ( 2017); Chang et al. ( 2014); Chen ( 2018); Maier et al. ( 2015); Massari ( 2010), SM as the environment for infectious contents like FN comprises of communication channels such as websites, mobile applications, and platforms that facititate relationship forming among users of contents with similar interest. Hence, the relevance of SM to various aspects of life is of high singficance to users, government policies, and the economy.

This is somewhat consistent with the argument of the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) - Tedros Ghebreyesus - at a foreign policy and security expert submit held in Germany in February 2020 (Union, 2020, May 19). Tedros argued that as the world continues to grapple with Covid-19 contagion, an 'infodemic' is emerging as FN continues to "spread faster and more" than Covid-19 (Africe, 2020). Given the speed of the spread of FN, infodemic can hinder the effectiveness of public health response while propagating confusion and distrust in the society.

As shown in Fig. 1, the hosts interact with those who have similar interests in their SM groups or forums and thus recruit new believers to the environment (Haigh et al., 2018; Humprecht, 2019a; Mettler & Winter, 2016; Roozenbeek & van der Linden, 2019; Rubin, 2019). These communities continue to grow as positive social networks expand. With the power of SM platforms, new groups are created that have a similar agenda, improving social learning and opportunities using SM platforms' tools (Kwon et al., 2017). One of the purposes of these strategies and networks is to clamp down as quickly as possible on people perceived as outsiders that may uncover or expose their content and philosophies.

3 Research Method

3.1 Research Design and Data Collection

This study carried out a longitudinal survey with online participants to test the relationships and associations in the proposed meta-framework. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted in 2019, survey was conducted using stratified sampling, with participants divided into groups based on their demographics, proficiency of using SM platforms, and interest in news and current affairs online. Table 2 shows participants' profiles in terms of their gender, age, location, SM usage, and SM experience. The questionnaire was designed through the research gap and literature.

This study distributed the questionnaire to 2234 active engaging participants and received 546 surveys which included both partial and completed questionnaire, which accounts for a response rate of 24%, demonstrating that the response rate is consistent with previous studies (Arshad et al., 2014; Klashanov, 2018; Malik et al., 2020). This study sample size consists of participants from across the global, with North America accounting for 29% of the total survey which make up for the largest share in terms of participant size. Experience of using SM platforms show that 28% of the participants engage more than 5 times daily on the platforms while 22.7% accounting for participants with 5 to 6 years working the SM platforms.

3.2 Analytical Technique

According to Ragin ( 2013); Ragin and Pennings ( 2005), the fuzzy set theoretical approach can be used to evaluate theories, frameworks, and models with a deductive strategy driven by a positivist paradigm. Fuzzy set analysis is an emerging technique for management and social sciences, which has become more popular as the initial problems were overcome by introducing hybrid techniques of fuzzy set logic. This study adopts the relationship and association testing suggested by Ragin ( 2009) to test for Boolean expressions in the fuzzy set theoretical approach of the four intersections in Fig. 2.

Integrated meta-framework

This study proposes an eight-step process flowchart consisting of four loop relationships (represented by the double line diamonds in Fig. 3) and three predictive relationships (represented by the single line diamonds) that shows the relationships used to discuss the outcomes of the analysis. The flowchart is described as follows:

Flow chart for the consistency analysis

1. (1)
A loop relationship for an expression that a solution pathway is reliable shows whether the consistency of the sufficiency analysis is greater than 0.7 of the solution pathways as defined in this paper for the consistency threshold analysis. Any relationship that falls below the set threshold is eliminated from further analysis testing, as this means that that relationship does not achieve acceptable reliability.

2. (2)
A loop relationship for an expression that a solution pathway is accepted shows whether the consistency of A1 is greater than 0.7. This statement suggests that any relationship that falls below the acceptable criteria in the solution pathway must be rejected.

3. (3)
A double line diamond relationship for a strongly supported expression shows whether the consistency of A2, A3, and A4 is less than or equal to 0.7. This statement suggests that any relationship that passes the acceptance criteria does not have significant contradictory proofs.

4. (4)
A single line diamond relationship for an expression not supported by itself (however, subsequent relationships can benefit) can be described by the consistency of A3, which is less than or equal to 0.7. Furthermore, A3 represents the type I consistency error, and it is usually below the acceptance threshold.

5. (5)
A loop relationship for an expression that a solution pathway is weakly supported shows whether the consistency of the sufficiency analysis that A1 is greater than A3 of the solution pathways, as defined for the consistency threshold analysis. Any relationship that falls below the set threshold is eliminated from further analysis, as the relationship does not achieve acceptable reliability.

6. (6)
A double line diamond relationship for a supported expression shows whether the consistency of A4 is less than or equal to 0.7. This statement suggests that any relationship that passes the acceptance criteria does not have a significant error during analysis and this supports classification.

7. (7)
A loop relationship for an expression that a solution pathway is not weakly supported shows whether the consistency of A2 is greater than 0.7. This statement suggests that any relationship that falls below the acceptable criteria in the solution pathway can be improved and there is weak support for classification.

8. (8)
A double line diamond relationship for a supported expression shows whether the consistency of A2 is greater than or equal to A4. This statement suggests that any relationship that passes the acceptance criteria and partially supports the conditions for A2 and A4 represents the type II consistency error; this is usually equal to or greater than the acceptance threshold.

4 Data Analysis and Results

According to Deutsch and Malmborg ( 1985), complementarity and equifinality, the two underlying features in the fuzzy set theoretic approach, display patterns of attributes and different results depending on the structure of the constructs. In addition, the attributes in the constructs are concerned with the present or absent conditions and associations formed during conceptualization, rather than isolating the attributes from the constructs. Furthermore, complementarity exists if there is proof that causal factors display a match in their attributes and the analysis shows a higher level in the results, while equifinality exists if at least two unidentical pathways known as causal factors show the same results (Herrera-Restrepo et al., 2016).

In Table 3, the attributes of the constructs indicate the relationships that provide empirical evidence to reject or support the model. The results demonstrate that the relationships are mostly rejected. We find that a higher consistency level directly results in a higher reliability of the relationship. The three combinations of attributes in the sufficiency analysis show that the input efficiency either fails or passes the set consistency threshold requirement (consistency and coverage are 0.72 and 0.44, respectively).

In Table 4, the relationships indicate support for the empirical findings. The results show that the attributes of the constructs have higher combined solution pathways than the attributes in Table 3. The type II error (or false negative) is one form of contradiction ignored in Fig. 3. These findings show the least likely attributes of the constructs, indicating the continuation of existing relationships as well as supporting the higher consistency level of the associations and stronger support for further relationships. Hence, this analysis can introduce additional causal conditions of similar attributes not yet shown in the current relationships by retracking to the relationship mapping data and finding common attributes in existing constructs. This may explain the undefined variance in the existing relationships.

Table 5 shows the combined solution pathways for consistency and coverage, indicating support for most of the attributes of the constructs. This indicates a type I error (or false positive) in the form of contradicting the variances in the relationships, while the higher consistency level of the associations supports the higher values that delimit the relationships. Therefore, unconfirmed attributes indicate a restriction of the current relationships.

In Table 6, this combined solution pathway indicates that neither the predicted relationships nor the coverage by attributes' definitions of the constructs are strongly supported in terms of societal acceptance and the challenges posed by FN on SM on society. Therefore, alternative variances, as understood by the society, are better-supporting conditions for the relationship's definitions in A4. Five of the six pathways are equal to or greater than the defined threshold, indicating that the relationships between the constructs can benefit from trade-offs. Furthermore, there are similar results for the unique coverage, signaling a significantly high-efficiency input directly linked to the variance from the causal conditions.

To fully understand the A4 outcomes, it is important to discuss the outcomes from A1, A2, and A3 simultaneously. A1 and A2 are insufficient to support a high input efficiency, indicating that SM will fade-out without a correlation with FN. To have a high input efficiency, the combination of the two constructs is highly significant to the relationships. However, A3, which considers all the attributes in the societal acceptance constructs, rejects the associated attributes from A1, whereas it shows weak support for A2, which indicates that the conditions are peripheral or are unconcerned about the variance. This explains the weak support in the attributes of their relationships. The A4 outcome shows that this study considers the attributes of the relations between A1 and A2, as A3 can explain the outcomes of redefining and reducing the impact of both associations.

5 Discussion

The aim of this research was to carry out an investigation on the impact of FN on the society, the use of SM as a platform for cascading of information and news. Thus, this study further explore the conceptual model of disease triangle (Piccialli et al., 2021) which identify FN as infectious pathogen in Fig. 1 (SM platforms host and spread FN), without the societal acceptance, it is difficult to cascade information and news. Furthermore, FN as defined in this study holds three main features which are significant for the perceptions of the society: the contents of the news, the intentions of the news, and the verification of the news. Hence, the use of comparative technique (fsQCA analysis) to outline the findings as shown in this study auggesting that societal acceptance is important in understanding the impact of FN. To better understand FN, SM, and societal acceptance, this study developed a meta-framework and analyzed the relationships among the attributes of the three constructs within. An online survey with 356 participants was carried out with a stratified sample size to test the meta-framework, and the data collected from the survey process were further categorized as the relationships designed in the constructs. This study considered SM platforms and the activities stimuling cascading processes of FN, changing the societal acceptance through the lens of contents management.

In previous studies, SM platforms are increasingly changing business activities and strategies used in positioning new products and brands, also leading to mis-information in the society (Modgil et al., 2021; Parra et al., 2021; Piccialli et al., 2021), also analyzed the SM platforms as the environment for business and social transactions focusing on capturing the largest audiences for information cascading, this further the spread of FN through the use of cascading tools available on SM. According to (Dwivedi et al., 2018; Kim & Dennis, 2019; Kim et al., 2019), cascading of FN through the use of SM platforms is growing faster than anticipated. The results of this study identified focused areas that can reduce the spread of FN on SM.

The results gathered during data analysis of validated questionnaire demonstrated important contributions of this study to minimizing cascading of FN in the society. Thus, the evaluation of the three perspectives; FN, SM, and societal acceptance further enhanced into relationship mapping by considering the entities from each perspectives as shown in Fig. 2. The results from Table 3, suggest that the testing of the relationship A1: FN/USˑVA of FN perspective and the entities users and values of the societal perspective is rejected while the relationship A1: FN/USˑNW of FN perspective and the entities users and networks of the societal acceptance is supported. Furthermore, the outcomes in Table 3 concur with the disease triangle theory which discussed the pathology model for disease manifestation, stating that the three triangular elements for infectious pathogen must be present for disease to grow (Humprecht, 2019b; Rubin, 2019; Sommariva et al., 2018). Hence, the relationship A1: FN/USˑVA of FN perspective and the entities users and values of the societal perspective lacks the environment (networks) for cascading of contents of FN.

Table 4 shows support for SM and societal acceptance perspectives relationship mapping, with constructs' consistency and coverage meeting the set requirement in Fig. 3. However, condition S1 and S2 for A2: SM/USˑVA and S1 for A2: SM/USˑNW were ignored from the result, suggesting that there are other sources of information such as true news, entertainment contents which users are engaging with on SM platforms. According to Kwon et al. ( 2017), SM platforms provide positive opportunities such as learning new skills, engaging with experienced individuals and mentors, and finding new friendship, directly impacting positively on the society.

The increase in the level of cascading of FN can be attributed to SM companies drive to upsurge the size of big data, leading to strategic end to end nodes multiplication (Haigh et al., 2018). This study demonstrates that the enabling environment for the spreading of FN is attributed to the structure and strategies of SM companies. As shown in Table 6, when SM companies implement effective fact-checking tools on SM platforms, the traffic of FN is minimized and the impact on the society is reduced. The relevant role of SM companies is to ensure that verification and fact-checking are embedded into the process of retrieving news and information.

In summary, the findings of this study suggest that previous studies (Dwivedi et al., 2018; Kim et al., 2019; Malik et al., 2020; Modgil et al., 2021; Roozenbeek & van der Linden, 2019) demonstrated the gap for an investigation of the societal acceptance of contents available on SM. Our findings show that the societal acceptance of information and news is highly dependent on the verification and fact-checking features that are available on the SM platforms. Therefore, the research questions in this study outlined the need for fact-checking and verification of information and news most importantly FN on SM. The results of the complementarity assessments show that SM and societal acceptance did significantly influence cascading of contents towards users. Specifically, FN cascading spread faster than any other type of contents on SM as shown in Table 5. With regards to societal acceptance, users distributions of FN contents unconsciously aid cascasding with the intention of spreading awareness about the situation surrounding FN events.

5.1 Theoretical Implications

The findings of this study contribute to theory by using complementarity among FN, SM, and societal acceptance to explain their influence by evaluating all the attributes in the three constructs, building relationships, and presenting findings that identify the significance of each association to reduce the cascading of FN in society. Therefore, this research answers the call of studies (George et al., 2018; Miller & Tucker, 2013; Miranda et al., 2016) that have suggested further work on FN on SM. Further, this study explains the impact of FN on society by exploring the conditions in different scenarios and with different complementarity values. It also shows how SM (i.e., the environment) and users can strategically deploy all resources to tackle the cascading and spread of FN. Most importantly, fuzzy set theory provides a data analysis structure that shows complex causality, enabling this research to present empirical findings.

Theoretically speaking, the outcomes show the importance of fact-checking and managing cascading in reducing the spread of the contents of FN in the society. Also, the role of SM companies in continuance commitment to support the course of minizing the impact of FN. As of date, this is the first of study to develop a meta-framework to examine the impact of FN on the society distributed on the SM. This study argued that exploring fact-checking and managing cascading will provide a platform for SM companies to contributing in the challenging impact of FN on the society. This study finds that SM as a type of environment is equipped with the technological know-how to tackle the spread of FN. This is particularly so for large SM organizations such as Facebook whose main business is SM content. Therefore, investment in technological research and service innovation is becoming a priority. However, more investment is required for fact-checking and analyzing cascading news, meaning that SM organizations with technical research facilities are more likely to initiate rigorous fact-checking campaigns. Hence, profitability and market growth may be more important for implementing fact-checking and news-cascading technologies that benefit society.

5.2 Practical Implications

Based on the outcomes obtained from the complementarity of the fuzzy set, it is also important for the SM platform providers to continue to invest in the fact-checking and managing contents of FN that are influencing users perceptions. In addition, it is very important to manage the direct impact of FN contents on the society by increasing the amount of fact-checking and verification tools that are available on SM. For instance, vigorous campaigns on the important role of news and information verification across all SM platforms and ensuring that there is educating information about the impact of spreading FN on SM on the society at large. Also, SM organizations should implement safe technology such as real-time deletion of contents of FN to ensure a safer communication environment for the users. Furthermore, the distinguishing real news from fake news using aided technology will boost confidence in the society. The comprehensive theoretical review and in-depth empirical analysis of the complex casualty of FN on SM on society in this study allows SM organizations to consider their organizational strategies to reduce FN cascading and implement sustainable solutions. SM organizations should prioritize the allocation of resources toward measures that tackle the challenges FN poses to society as well as the cost, societal impact, and misinformation linked to regulations to halt the spread of FN.

5.3 Implications for Society

The in-depth empirical analysis conducted concerning the FN on SM and the societal impact, the study provides a platform to the SM users on how far the facts published on SM can be trusted and how to filter the FN from TN on SM. SM organizations such as Facebook and Twitter have invested in large to tackle the publishing of FN on social media while yet the FN has taken on SM drastically during certain urgent situations.

Following the countless challenges that arose around the world due to the FN published on SM and the societal impact, the SM organizations have taken larger steps in minimizing the FN before being published and open to the public. The flowchart for the consistency analysis can be used by SM organizations in analyzing the published news on SM to distinguish FN from TN. Thus, the negative impact caused by FN to users and their lives can be minimized. Despite the fact that steps been taken by the SM organizations, it is also users' responsibility to filter TN from FN even if they are being posted on verified accounts, by fact-checking or using appropriate verification (Nagi, 2020).

6 Conclusions

The results from this study demonstrate that it is important for SM platform providers continue in their efforts to understand the risks of cascading of FN and the influence on the society at large. Hence, the implementation of fact-checking tools is significant in reducing the spread of FN, building of trust and confident in the society. SM platform providers should ensure that there is continuous monitoring of online activities triggered by spread of FN and also ensures periodic upgrade of fact-checking technologies to tackle new tricks and strategies used in cascading FN in the society (Modgil et al., 2021; Parra et al., 2021). Furthermore, fact-checking information and public awareness on how to verify news can be added to campaigns to support the affected societies in combating the impact of FN. The findings in our study demonstrate that societal acceptance is a powerful tool that can persuade the society to focus on achieving common goal. The role of the society is to adopt the strength in societal acceptance to drive positive cultural change that welcome fact-checking and verification of any form of news.

6.1 Limitations and Future Research Directions

This study, like other studies, has limitations that suggest future research directions. This study analyzed how three constructs, FN, SM, and societal acceptance, impact on society. Other constructs were not included in this study such as SM firms' power, political strategies, and societal perceptions. In addition, our data collection focused on people who engage most frequently with SM; experts and SM analysts may be relevant for future research to examine. Given that previous researchers focus on cascading FN and fact-checking news content to distinguish TN from FN, the influence of fact-checking and analyzing FN cascading could be tested future research with new datasets. In this vein, this study did not consider the financial impact of FN on SM on society, which is another interesting area for future research.

This cross-sectional research aimed to provide an in-depth understanding of the relationships of the three studied topics by analyzing data from many demographics rather than from one location. Therefore, the findings of this study support generalization to many locations. However, since some studies consider the results from a single location, future research could compare the complementarity, consistency, and coverage of a single location with many locations, which would enrich the findings of this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

1. Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK

Femi Olan & Emmanuel Ogiemwonyi Arakpogun

2. School of Business and Economics, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK

Uchitha Jayawickrama

3. NIHR Newcastle IVD Co-operative Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK

Jana Suklan

4. Plymouth Business School, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK

Shaofeng Liu

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Femi Olan.

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Olan, F., Jayawickrama, U., Arakpogun, E.O. et al. Fake news on Social Media: the Impact on Society. Inf Syst Front (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-022-10242-z
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Keywords

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Fake news on Social Media: the Impact on Society - Information Systems Frontiers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Fake news (FN) on social media (SM) rose to prominence in 2016 during the United States of America presidential election, leading people to question science, true news (TN), and societal norms. FN is increasingly affecting societal values, changing opinions on critical issues and topics as well as redefining facts, truths, and beliefs.

# data[].attributes.body
1. Social media reaches to large audience in no time and anybody reading fake information may assume it to be true (Tandoc et al., 2017). One of them was the rumors that coronavirus was developed in Wuhan and so it hampered development of vaccine because of lack of trust between Chinese and other scientists. ?
2.    FN is increasingly affecting societal values, changing opinions on critical issues and topics as well as redefining facts, truths, and beliefs.
3. Misinformation wave can create devastating effects on the psychological health of people (panic, anxiety, depression or hypertension)

# data[].attributes.body
1. People gradually develop trust issues due to fake social media posts.
2. Unreliable social media posts have a negative impact on people's mindset of society
3.