Coronavirus Goes Viral: Quantifying the COVID-19 Misinformation Epidemic on Twitter
Coronavirus Goes Viral: Quantifying the COVID-19 Misinformation Epidemic on Twitter
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DOI：
10.7759/cureus.7255
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发表时间：
2020-03-13
影响因子：
1.2
通讯作者：
Baddour, Khalil
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Kouzy, Ramez;Jaoude, Joseph Abi;Baddour, Khalil
BackgroundSince the beginning of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic, misinformation has been spreading uninhibited over traditional and social media at a rapid pace. We sought to analyze the magnitude of misinformation that is being spread on Twitter (Twitter, Inc., San Francisco, CA) regarding the coronavirus epidemic.Materials and methodsWe conducted a search on Twitter using 14 different trending hashtags and keywords related to the COVID-19 epidemic. We then summarized and assessed individual tweets for misinformation in comparison to verified and peer-reviewed resources. Descriptive statistics were used to compare terms and hashtags, and to identify individual tweets and account characteristics.ResultsThe study included 673 tweets. Most tweets were posted by informal individuals/groups (66%), and 129 (19.2%) belonged to verified Twitter accounts. The majority of included tweets contained serious content (91.2%); 548 tweets (81.4%) included genuine information pertaining to the COVID-19 epidemic. Around 70% of the tweets tackled medical/public health information, while the others were pertaining to sociopolitical and financial factors. In total, 153 tweets (24.8%) included misinformation, and 107 (17.4%) included unverifiable information regarding the COVID-19 epidemic. The rate of misinformation was higher among informal individual/group accounts (33.8%, p:
