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This book explores the phenomenon of distortion of information through media via the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the ways in which relevant information distortion and virality have occurred in regard to the disease and its risks.
Positing that the interrelated processes of misinformation, disinformation, fake news and conspiracy theories are related forms of distortion of information through media (DIM) and can only be understood through a multilevel theoretical model that incorporates message-based, individual difference, social network-based, societal and geotechnical factors, Brian H. Spitzberg develops an integrative, well-argued, and well-evidenced framework within which these issues can and should be addressed.
This book offers a model for further research across such disciplines as communication, journalism/media studies, political science, sociology, cognitive psychology, social psychology, evolutionary psychology, public health, big data analytics, social network analytics, computational linguistics and geographic information sciences, and will interest researchers and students in those areas.
List of contents
1. Virus = Language / Language = Virus 2. Meme Level: Constraints of an Attention Economy/Ecology 3. Individual Level: Misinformation Motives 4. Meme x Individual Level: Message Processing 5. Social Network Dynamics Level 6. Societal/Cultural (Media) Ecosystem and Geotechnical Levels 7. Whither Progress?
About the author
Brian H. Spitzberg (Ph.D., University of Southern California) is a Senate Distinguished Professor Emeritus at San Diego State University. He is author, coauthor, or coeditor of more 150 scholarly articles, books, and book chapters. His primary areas of research involve assessment, communication skills, and the dark side of communication.
Summary
This book explores the phenomenon of distortion of information through media via the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the ways in which relevant information distortion and virality have occurred in regard to the disease and its risks.
