A cognitive behaviour data analysis on the use of social media in global south context focusing on Bangladesh

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the factors that contribute to the propagation of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation on social media in Bangladesh. We attempted to identify the links between the propagation of misinformation and the factors associated with trust in sources based on personal ties among our respondents. In order to find our targeted outcomes, we used a cognitive method in our survey. A total of 202 replies were chosen for analysis, in which respondents were presented with falsified news and asked how they would react to it being shared or posted by someone with whom they have a personal connection. The survey also recorded a variety of other parameters. The Likert Chart Scale was our primary method of data collection, with Yes/No responses serving as a secondary option. The responses were analysed using statistical methods such as Chi-Square Tests, data visualizations and the Ordinal Logistic Regression Model. Our findings have shown that trust in the source can lead to hastily sharing news on social media platforms without proper verification. Other key factors, such as time spent on social media platforms and the type of content shared, also contribute to the propagation of fake news on social media platforms. Such findings may contribute to making Bangladesh more safe and secured in the cyberspace area.

Systematic Literature Review on Driving Factors of COVID-19 Related Fake News Sharing on Social Media

“…These theories explain the various factors that cause changes in people's behavior from a psychological perspective. For instance, an individual's trust in online news, digital images, or information sources was suggested to be significantly predicting the behavior of COVID-19 fake news sharing on Facebook and Twitter (Kurfi et al, 2021;Laato et al, 2020;Samya et al, 2023), followed by perceived information overload (Apuke & Omar, 2021b;Bermes, 2021;Huang et al, 2022). This is not surprising as evidence from recent studies demonstrates that in the time of pandemic, a massive amount of related information was shown on social media which contributed to people's negative emotions like anxiety, fear, and fatigue (Gupta et al, 2022).…”