The rise of social bots. Communications of the ACM,
Bots, or software robots, have existed since the early days of computing, with chatbots like Alan Turing’s envisioned algorithms sparking decades of AI research. Initially, bots like ELIZA were created for simple…
Rumor cascades
Online social networks facilitate the widespread propagation of rumors, as information shared by friends is often trusted and quickly disseminated to many individuals simultaneously. A study tracking rumors on Facebook, using data…
A guide to anti‐misinformation actions around the world.
This article discusses the European Commission’s efforts to address the growing concern of misinformation through a report from a high-level group of global experts. It reflects broader global efforts to combat misinformation,…
The politics of ‘platforms
This article explores how online content providers like YouTube strategically position themselves to various stakeholders using the term “platform” to navigate their roles in the information landscape. The term appeals to different…
The dragons of inaction: Psychological barriers that limit climate change mitigation and adaptation
This article examines the gap between the widespread recognition of climate change as a critical issue and the insufficient mitigating actions taken by individuals, particularly those engaged in high-greenhouse-gas-emitting behaviors. It highlights…
Propagation from Deceptive News Sources: Who Shares, How Much, How Evenly, and How Quickly?
This article investigates the spread of misinformation on social media by analyzing 11 million posts and examining user behaviors in propagating content from trusted versus suspicious news sources. The study contrasts population…
Does counter-attitudinal information cause backlash? Results from three large survey experiments.
This article explores the concept of “backlash,” where exposure to counter-attitudinal evidence is believed to reinforce pre-existing beliefs, leading to stronger opinions. The article formalizes this concept and presents findings from three…
Analyzing and measuring the spread of fake content on twitter during high impact events
This paper introduces TweetCred, a semi-supervised ranking model that assigns real-time credibility scores to tweets, implemented as a browser plug-in. Over three months, TweetCred was used by 1,127 Twitter users, scoring 5.4…
Chaotic world of climate truth
This opinion piece critiques the shift in public and political discourse around climate change, arguing that terms like “catastrophic” and “chaotic” are increasingly used to describe climate change in a way that…
Faking Sandy: Characterizing and identifying fake images on Twitter during Hurricane Sandy
The study focuses on how Twitter facilitated the propagation of deceptive images during Hurricane Sandy. It reveals that a small number of users were responsible for most retweets of fake image tweets…