DOMAINE DE RECHERCHE

Information systems; Social media.

Projet de recherche

The increased use of social media has allowed rumors to spread at an unprecedented scale and speed, especially during times of crisis, heated political campaigns, and controversial events. During such times, people often depend on social media, because they provide almost real-time information, to make important decisions about their lives. In situations of deep uncertainty, due to the inexistence or limited access to reliable information, rumors can play a major role in social and political transformations.

The proposed study explores the dynamics of rumors within social media, using a multi-situated methodology which relies on qualitative, quantitative and software-based methods as well as on the development of ad-hoc data-gathering and analytic software tools. Through such tools, the project will examine the circulation of rumors within and across different platforms and explore how users interact with them.

This study aims to develop and apply a methodology that brings information systems and social sciences methodologies together. The idea is to rely on computer science knowledge and tools to address specific social sciences methodological requirements and objectives. Specifically, the research will provide a new kind of analysis in the design of parts of the software itself. Concretely, the resulting software and the research procedure will collect and process masses of data from different social media related to critical events.