April 13, 2022

Minerva-funded Research Reveals How Misinformation can be Re-invigorated in Discourse Through the Novelty of a Major Event

Analysts of social media differ in their emphasis on the effects of message content versus social network structure. The balance of these factors may change substantially across time. When a major event occurs, initial independent reactions may give way to more social diffusion of interpretations of the event among different communities, including those committed to disinformation.