Logo eprints

The economy of attention in the age of (mis)information

Bessi, Alessandro and Scala, Antonio and Rossi, Luc and Zhang, Qian and Quattrociocchi, Walter The economy of attention in the age of (mis)information. Journal of Trust Management, 1 (12). pp. 1-13. ISSN 2196-064X (2014)

[img]
Preview
PDF - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives.

Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

In this work we present a thorough quantitative analysis of information consumption patterns of qualitatively different information on Facebook. Pages are categorized, according to their topics and the communities of interests they pertain to, in a) alternative information sources (diffusing topics that are neglected by science and main stream media); b) online political activism; and c) main stream media. We find similar information consumption patterns despite the very different nature of contents. Then, we classify users according to their interaction patterns among the different topics and measure how they responded to the injection of 2788 false information (parodistic imitations of alternative stories). We find that users prominently interacting with alternative information sources ? i.e. more exposed to unsubstantiated claims ? are more prone to interact with intentional and parodistic false claims

Item Type: Article
Identification Number: 10.1186/s40493-014-0012-y
Uncontrolled Keywords: Misinformation; Attention patterns; Rumor spreading
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA75 Electronic computers. Computer science
Research Area: Computer Science and Applications
Depositing User: Ms T. Iannizzi
Date Deposited: 02 Feb 2015 10:31
Last Modified: 02 Nov 2015 13:06
URI: http://eprints.imtlucca.it/id/eprint/2553

Actions (login required)

Edit Item Edit Item