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In recent years, short-form social media videos have emerged as an important source of health-related advice. In this study, we investigate whether experts or ordinary users in such videos are more effective in debunking the common misperception that talking about suicide should be avoided. We also explore a new trend on TikTok and other platforms, in which users attempt to back up their arguments by displaying scientific articles in the background of their videos. To test the effect of source type (expert vs. ordinary user) and scientific references (present or absent), we conducted a 2 × 2 between-subject plus control group experiment (n = 956). In each condition, participants were shown a TikTok video that was approximately 30 seconds long. Our findings show that in all four treatment groups, participants reduced their misperceptions on the topic. The expert was rated as being more authoritative on the topic compared to the ordinary user. However, the expert was also rated as being less credible compared to the ordinary user. The inclusion of a scientific reference did not make a difference. Thus, both experts and ordinary users may be similarly persuasive in a short-form video environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The uncertainty around the emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, a novel coronavirus that causes coronavirus disease (COVID-19), has led to the rapid and widespread diffusion of misinformation [...]

Citizens often attempt to interact with government through online modes of communication such as email and social media. Using an audit study, we examine when and how American municipalities with populations of over 50,000 respond to online requests for information. We develop baselines for municipal responsiveness, including the average rate, time, and quality of responses, and examine whether these response attributes vary based on the mode of communication or the tone of the request. Overall, municipalities responded to 54% of email requests and 38% of Twitter requests. A majority of responses were received on the same business day. Responses are slightly faster on Twitter, but of higher quality on email. Governments are more likely to respond to frustrated constituents on email, but respond faster to frustrated queries on Twitter, though with lower quality responses. These findings contribute to our understanding of local government responsiveness and have significant implications for democratic accountability and resident compliance with and the effectiveness of local government policies. Furthermore, our scholarly understanding of local government communications with residents, and particularly the promise of social media as a tool of two-way communication, may be underdeveloped. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The World Health Organization declared the deluge of publicly available information about COVID-19 to be an "infodemic," comprising both facts and misinformation. Researchers don't know exactly the degree to which people believe the misinformation they see online, but, in the case of COVID-19, belief in conspiracy theories related to the virus is associated with people being less willing to get vaccinated, potentially putting public health at risk. There's no silver bullet to countering the online misinformation that can lead to these sorts of consequential misperceptions, but the good news is that multiple overlapping misinformation interventions, including correcting false information, can help. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the content of parenting information shared on social media by identifying the range and frequency of topics shared by parenting-focused accounts on Twitter. Using the Twitter API, a universe of 675,069 tweets were gathered from 74 of the most-followed parenting-focused accounts, or "hubs," from January 2016 to June 2018. Using a custom, semi-automated topic modeling approach, we identified the topics – and subtopics within topics – parenting hubs shared with their followers and investigated whether any meaningful differences in topical focus existed between accounts targeting mothers versus fathers. Results indicate that over one third of tweets were about Parenting Behavior and nearly one quarter about Health, with Entertainment, School and Motherhood and Fatherhood generally as less tweeted topics. Mother-focused accounts tweeted more about Health than father-focused accounts, which tweeted more than others about Entertainment. Implications for future parenting and social media research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political campaigns often feature jarring revelations against candidates. This study examines how audiences come to understand major campaign events, the extent to which they shape evaluations of candidates, and how their impact is filtered through an increasingly partisan news media environment. Using national rolling cross-sectional survey data collected over the 2016 U.S. presidential election period, we show partisan asymmetries in the way major campaign events influenced candidate appraisals. Event effects during the 2016 campaign were dependent on various media use patterns and concentrated among Independents. In particular, the reopening of the investigation into Clinton's email server by James Comey reduced her favorability, especially when paired with liberal and conservative partisan media use. By providing a nuanced picture of partisan selective exposure and campaign effects, our findings reinforce that the role of campaigns in candidate appraisals should be understood at the intersection of media use, partisanship, and specific events during a contentious race. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given concerns about the persuasive power of video misinformation on social media for health topics, we test two techniques – exposure to a news literacy video and user corrections – to limit the effects on misperceptions. An online sample of American adults from August of 2019 was randomly assigned to view two simulated Facebook videos. The first video manipulated the presence of news literacy concepts. The second video either promoted sunscreen use or made inaccurate claims regarding its dangers; scrolling comments either debunked or did not address the sunscreen misinformation in the video. Our results demonstrate that video misinformation heightened beliefs in sunscreen myths and reduced acceptance of sunscreen facts and intentions to wear sunscreen compared to a promotional video. Real-time user corrections were partially successful in reducing the effects of the misinformation video on beliefs but not intentions. Additionally, exposure to a news literacy video did not inoculate people to the misinformation. We discuss the implications of these findings for best practices regarding correcting video misinformation on health topics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extending previous research, we test two solutions for addressing misinformation by pairing news literacy (NL) messages with corrective responses to health misinformation shared on Twitter. Importantly, we consider a range of outcomes, including not just credibility or misperceptions, but also feelings of news literacy and support for its value. Using an experiment, we find that user corrections of a meme containing false information reduced credibility assessments of the misinformation post and misperceptions but seeing misinformation also produced lower perceptions of personal news literacy and its value for society, regardless of whether it is corrected or not. Exposure to an NL message did not enhance the effectiveness of these corrective responses nor boost NL attitudes and may have generated cynicism. We discuss the challenges of designing NL messages for social media that achieve the wide range of goals news literacy interventions aspire to address. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2008 presidential election was one of the most watched campaigns in American history, and prominently featured the vice presidential candidates, Governor Sarah Palin and Senator Joseph Biden. This election contest presents an exciting opportunity to expand and test our current understandings of the relationship between gender and media coverage. We examine this relationship using computer-assisted content analysis of major newspapers, television news broadcasts, and political blogs. These three media are analyzed in terms of both quantity and substance of coverage received by Palin and Biden. Using a multiple medium perspective in our investigation of the contest between Palin and Biden, this article finds differences in volume of coverage (Governor Palin receives more), substance of coverage (roughly reflecting gender-based stereotypes), and medium (with differences in volume and substance of coverage across newspapers, television, and blogs). Implications for future contests and for American politics in general are discussed. Keywords: Gender, Media Coverage, 2008 Election, Stereotypes, U.S. Vice Presidential Candidates, Content Analysis, Sarah Palin, Joe Biden. La eleccion presidencial del 2008 fue una de las campanas mas vistas en la historia de los Estados Unidos, dando un lugar destacado a los candidatos para la vicepresidencia, la gobernadora Sarah Palin y el Senador Joseph Biden. Esta contienda electoral presenta una gran oportunidad para ampliar y poner a prueba nuestra comprension actual de la relacion entre el genero y la cobertura de los medios de comunicacion. Este articulo examina esta relacion usando un analisis de contenido de los principales periodicos, programas de television y blogs politicos. Estos tres medios son analizados en terminos de cantidad y sustancia de la cobertura recibida por Palin y Biden. Usando una perspectiva de multiples medios en nuestra investigacion de la competencia entre Palin y Biden, este estudio encuentra diferencias en el volumen de cobertura (la gobernadora Palin recibio mas), sustancia de la cobertura (mas o menos reflejando estereotipos de genero), y de medio (con diferencias de volumen y sustancia de cobertura entre periodicos, television, y blogs). Las implicaciones para futuras contiendas y la politica estadounidense en general son discutidas., On August 29, 2008, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska became the first woman in the history of the United States to be named as the vice presidential candidate for the [...]