“She Seems More Human”: Understanding Twitter Users’ Credibility Assessments of Dementia-Related Information

Alhayan, Fatimah; Pennington, Diane Rasmussen; Ruthven, Ian

Abstract

The presence of incorrect, medically uncorroborated information on social media may be harmful if people believe it. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify how Twitter users evaluate the credibility of dementia-related information sources. It used a think-aloud protocol via semi-structured interviews with 13 caregivers. It identified main credibility dimensions, including 13 factors. Participants deployed a combination of heuristics to assess information sources, and engaged in intensive systematic content review based on prior knowledge and relevance. The findings contribute to a nuanced understanding of how users evaluate Twitter sources in the health domain. Some of these are discussed in light of the MAIN Model, and prove significant in how practitioners and developers can better understand and help users evaluate information.

Citation

Alhayan, F., Pennington, D. R., & Ruthven, I. (2022, February). “She Seems More Human”: Understanding Twitter Users’ Credibility Assessments of Dementia-Related Information. Presented at iConference 2022, Online

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (published)
• Conference Name: iConference 2022
• Start Date: Feb 28, 2022
• End Date: Mar 4, 2022
• Acceptance Date: Nov 25, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Feb 23, 2022
• Publication Date: 2022
• Deposit Date: Feb 6, 2023
• Publisher: Springer
• Pages: 292-313
• Series Title: Lecture Notes in Computer Science
• Series Number: 13193
• Series ISSN: 0302-9743
• Book Title: Information for a Better World: Shaping the Global Future: iConference 2022
• ISBN: 978-3-030-96959-2
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-96960-8_20
• Keywords: Credibility, Health information, Twitter, Dementia, Bot