Network typology, information sources, and messages of the infodemic twitter network under COVID-19

Abstract

During the COVID-19 crisis, fake news, conspiracy theories, and backlash against specific groups emerged and were largely diffused via social media. This phenomenon has been described as an “infodemic,” and this study examined that the characteristics of infodemic on Twitter. Typological attributes of the infodemic Twitter network presented the features of “community clusters.” The frequently shard domains and URLs demonstrated coherent characteristics within the network. Top domains and URLs were trustworthy information sources, popular blogs, and public health research institutions. Interestingly, the most shard conversational content of the network was a COVID-19 relevant incident occurred at a church in Korea based on misinformation and false belief.