COVID19 and #misinformation

A special issue of the open access Journal of Medical Internet Research (vol 24 no 7, 2022) focused on Social Media, Ethics, and COVID-19 Misinformation. It contains a lot of articles, for example:
- Inoue, M., Shimoura, K., Nagai-Tanima, M. & Aoyama, T. (2022). The Relationship Between Information Sources, Health Literacy, and COVID-19 Knowledge in the COVID-19 Infodemic: Cross-sectional Online Study in Japan. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 24(7):e38332. https://doi.org/10.2196/38332
"An online cross-sectional study was conducted in November 2021. Participants were 477 individuals aged 20-69 years. After obtaining consent to participate in the study, participants were asked about sociodemographic indicators, sources of health-related information, health literacy, and COVID-19 knowledge. Sources of health-related information were categorized into 4 types: mass media, digital media, social media, and face-to-face communication. The Spearman rank correlation test was conducted to determine the relationship between health literacy, the number of correct answers to COVID-19 knowledge, and the number of information sources used. Multiple regression analysis was conducted with health literacy and the number of correct answers as dependent variables, the 4 media types as independent variables, and age and sex as adjustment variables.
"Mass media was the most frequently used source of information, followed by digital media, face-to-face communication, and social media. Social media use was significantly higher among individuals aged 20-29 years than among other age groups. Significant positive correlations were found between health literacy, the number of positive responses to COVID-19 knowledge, and the number of information sources used. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that health literacy is associated with access to information from digital media and face-to-face communication. Additionally, COVID-19 knowledge was associated with access to information from mass media, digital media, and face-to-face communication."
Go to https://www.jmir.org/themes/1142-theme-issue-social-media-ethics-and-covid19-misinformation
Photo by Sheila Webber: Rowan berries, August 2022