eprintid: 2210
rev_number: 10
eprint_status: archive
userid: 6
dir: disk0/00/00/22/10
datestamp: 2014-06-25 08:59:26
lastmod: 2014-06-25 08:59:26
status_changed: 2014-06-25 08:59:26
type: monograph
metadata_visibility: show
creators_name: Mocanu, Delia
creators_name: Zhang, Qian
creators_name: Karsai, Màrton
creators_name: Quattrociocchi, Walter
creators_id: 
creators_id: 
creators_id: 
creators_id: walter.quattrociocchi@imtlucca.it
title: Collective attention in the age of (mis)information
ispublished: submitted
subjects: H1
subjects: QA75
divisions: CSA
full_text_status: none
monograph_type: working_paper
abstract: In this work we study, on a sample of 2.3 million individuals, how Facebook users consumed different information at the edge of political discussion and news during the last Italian electoral competition. 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 show that attention patterns are similar despite the different qualitative nature of the information, meaning that unsubstantiated claims (mainly conspiracy theories) reverberate for as long as other information. Finally, we categorize users according to their interaction patterns among the different topics and measure how a sample of this social ecosystem (1279 users) responded to the injection of 2788 false information posts. Our analysis reveals that users which are prominently interacting with alternative information sources (i.e. more exposed to unsubstantiated claims) are more prone to interact with false claims. 
date: 2014-03
date_type: published
number:  
pages: 18
institution: IMT Institute for Advanced Studies Lucca
refereed: FALSE
official_url: http://arxiv.org/abs/1403.3344
citation:   Mocanu, Delia and Zhang, Qian and Karsai, Màrton and Quattrociocchi, Walter  Collective attention in the age of (mis)information.  Working Paper  # /2014        (Submitted)