The Everyday Sharing of Misinformation on Private Social Media project team will present a paper at the American Sociological Association (ASA) Media Sociology Symposium on 4 August 2022.
The paper is entitled “I would always be careful about what I receive”: Online misinformation, epistemic norms and social distinction, and is authored by Natalie-Anne Hall, Andrew Chadwick and Cristian Vaccari. The symposium will be held virtually, and our session will be at 6pm BST (10am PDT). Registration is open until 29 July and the programme can be found here.
In the paper, based on a thematic analysis, we reveal some key epistemic norms governing the everyday consumption and sharing of information and the social distinctions these norms establish. Many participants who said they did not frequently encounter misinformation through personal messaging were well aware of its existence, and willingly expressed views about those they believed were taken in by it. Deception was presented as a problem experienced by others who are more “naïve,” “biased” or less “media literate” than themselves. These narratives reflect a keen awareness of the normative epistemic value placed on objectivity and media literacy in today’s societies. However, they simultaneously reveal that those making such social distinctions are less likely to value anti-misinformation interventions because they are deemed irrelevant to their individual everyday practices.
We look forward to seeing you at the symposium!
The Everyday Misinformation Project 