Information behaviour in the Corona crisis

Fake news" is repeatedly brought into play during the Corona crisis. A research group at MCI is therefore looking into the question of how people can protect themselves from fake news and check information for its credibility. In general, science prefers to speak of "misinformation", because current studies indicate that the term "fake news" is often used deliberately to damage the credibility of traditional media.

At the moment, the research group is evaluating the first wave of the study, in which 1024 Austrians were asked about their information habits, among other things. A second wave is to follow in June. Initial results show that people who rely on social media for information about the coronavirus are significantly less well informed and less able to recognise circulating misinformation than people who frequently use traditional media. "For many people, info on social media is attractive because, for example, it feeds hopes that things will soon return to normal," explains Raffael Heiss, who led the MCI study. However, one has to be aware of the actual intentions behind the posts. Often, the aim is to reach as many people as possible or to convey political messages. "That is why it is always important to consciously check the source of the information: For example, who exactly is behind a video that is currently circulating on the internet?" As a rule of thumb, if no source is shown or you don't know it, caution is definitely advised.

Raffael Heiss conducts research at the MCI's Center for Social & Health Innovation (CSHI), a multidisciplinary research centre for public health. In the course of the COVID19 crisis, a scientific blog was set up