Coronavirus (COVID-19)"infodemic" in the Social Media: A Survey of Kenya International Students in China

Abstract

In the modern world today, epidemics, disasters, and tragic information have dominated social media platforms. This space offers a wide range of diets that, to some extent, the distinction of what is credible information is embryotic to misinformation, disinformation, fake news, and mal-information. This field has continued to raise questions from the scholars in a wide range of spectrum in social science research. The study of misinformation in social media is a very multifaceted problem that draws different conception from different continuums in both academia and policymakers. Recently, there has been widespread misinformation coined with mal-information and infodemic in the various social media concerning the spread of Coronavirus not only in China but also in the rest of the world. This has raised debate from credible health organizations, the media, and the members of the public on the veracity of this information on social media platforms. Therefore, this study employed a survey as a method to investigate the strategies used by international students in China to debunk the misinformation about Coronavirus in various social media. The study suggests the implementation of various media literacy programs by different stakeholders to empower students to minimize and fight misinformation in multiple online spaces.

Keywords: Social media, misinformation, media literacy, COVID-19

DOI: 10.7176/NMMC/90-03

Publication date:May 31^st 2020