When Advocacy Obscures Accuracy Online

Digital Pandemics of Public Health Misinformation Through an Antifluoride Case Study

Bibliographic Data

ID11029802
AuthorsBrittany Seymour (0000-0001-8680-5480, Brittany Seymour and Elsbeth Kalenderian are with the Department of Oral Health Policy and Epidemiology, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA. Rebekah Getman is with the Harvard Global Health Institute, Cambridge, MA. Avinash Saraf and Lily H. Zhang are students at Harvard College, Cambridge, and interns at the Harvard Global Health Institute, Cambridge.), Rebekah Getman (0000-0001-9278-5922, Brittany Seymour and Elsbeth Kalenderian are with the Department of Oral Health Policy and Epidemiology, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA. Rebekah Getman is with the Harvard Global Health Institute, Cambridge, MA. Avinash Saraf and Lily H. Zhang are students at Harvard College, Cambridge, and interns at the Harvard Global Health Institute, Cambridge.), Avinash Saraf (Brittany Seymour and Elsbeth Kalenderian are with the Department of Oral Health Policy and Epidemiology, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA. Rebekah Getman is with the Harvard Global Health Institute, Cambridge, MA. Avinash Saraf and Lily H. Zhang are students at Harvard College, Cambridge, and interns at the Harvard Global Health Institute, Cambridge.), Lily H Zhang (Brittany Seymour and Elsbeth Kalenderian are with the Department of Oral Health Policy and Epidemiology, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA. Rebekah Getman is with the Harvard Global Health Institute, Cambridge, MA. Avinash Saraf and Lily H. Zhang are students at Harvard College, Cambridge, and interns at the Harvard Global Health Institute, Cambridge.), Elsbeth Kalenderian (0000-0002-4684-9793, Brittany Seymour and Elsbeth Kalenderian are with the Department of Oral Health Policy and Epidemiology, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA. Rebekah Getman is with the Harvard Global Health Institute, Cambridge, MA. Avinash Saraf and Lily H. Zhang are students at Harvard College, Cambridge, and interns at the Harvard Global Health Institute, Cambridge.)
Year2015
Volume105
Issue3
Pages517-523
Publication date2015-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0090-0036 • E-ISSN: 1541-0048
PublisherAmerican Public Health Association (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2105/ajph.2014.302437
PMID25602893
OpenAlexW2109920916
LanguageEN
Citations received22
References cited28

Objectives. In an antifluoridation case study, we explored digital pandemics and the social spread of scientifically inaccurate health information across the Web, and we considered the potential health effects. Methods. Using the social networking site Facebook and the open source applications Netvizz and Gephi, we analyzed the connectedness of antifluoride networks as a measure of social influence, the social diffusion of information based on conversations about a sample scientific publication as a measure of spread, and the engagement and sentiment about the publication as a measure of attitudes and behaviors. Results. Our study sample was significantly more connected than was the social networking site overall (P Conclusions. Network sociology may be as influential as the information content and scientific validity of a particular health topic discussed using social media. Public health must employ social strategies for improved communication management

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) · Diffusion of innovations · Information Dissemination · Internet privacy · Misinformation · Pandemic · Political science · Public health · Public relations · Sample (material) · Social connectedness · Social media · Social network (sociolinguistics) · Social science · Sociology · World Wide Web · Computer Science · Health Literacy and Information Accessibility · Medicine · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Psychology · Social Media in Health Education · Social Psychology

Tools

Open DOISci-HubOpen Access