Characterising the Spread of COVID-19 Misinformation Through WhatsApp in India
试验速览
- 阶段
- 不适用
- 入组人数
- 1,000
- 试验地点
- 1
- 主要终点
- Changes in amount of thinking about the COVID-19 situation across 1 week
研究概览
简要总结
Digital misinformation has been flagged as a major risk of the 21st century, with an estimated cost of $78 billion to the global economy each year. Given this scope, we propose to characterize how misinformation is spread via messenger platforms (e.g. WhatsApp).
Specifically, we seek to:
- Identify metrics of potential misinformation (Aim 1). This is based on the hypothesis that although message contents are highly private, proxy markers can be used to identify potential misinformation.
- Understand the base-rate by which misinformation is shared via messaging applications (Aim 2). This is founded on the hypothesis that misinformation is endemic on messaging platforms, and thus needs to be documented.
- Identify "super spreaders" responsible for sending and receiving a large volume of misinformation (Aim 3). Here, we hypothesise that a small group of super spreaders are responsible for the bulk of misinformation-sharing on messaging applications.
The thrust of this work aligns with both government priorities and the grant's thematic areas, providing actionable findings that are timely amidst a worldwide surge of misinformation.
研究设计
- 研究类型
- Observational
- 观察模型
- Cohort
- 时间视角
- Cross Sectional
入排标准
- 年龄范围
- 21 Years 至 —（Adult, Older Adult）
- 性别
- All
- 接受健康志愿者
- 是
入选标准
- •Lived in India for more than 2 years,
- •Currently Living in India
- •Owns a WhatsApp account
排除标准
- •Not currently living in India
- •Below the ages of 21
- •Has not lived in India for more than 2 years
- •does not own a WhatsApp account
- •Does not speak English or Hindi
结局指标
主要结局
Changes in amount of thinking about the COVID-19 situation across 1 week
时间窗: 1 week, starting from date after baseline survey completion
1 item each day on how much they thought about the outbreak that day (measured on a 5 point scale: min = 1, max = 5; higher scores indicating more thinking about the outbreak).
WhatsApp Usage
时间窗: 1 week, starting from date after baseline survey completion
Participants were asked a series of questions daily related to their WhatsApp usage behaviors - in particular, their message-forwarding, personal chat and group chat behaviors.
Changes in fear with regards the COVID-19 situation across 1 week
时间窗: 1 week, starting from date after baseline survey completion
1 item each day on fear specifically of the COVID-19 situation (measured on a 4 point scale: min = 1, max = 4; higher scores indicating greater fear about the outbreak).
次要结局
未报告次要终点