Investigating people's views on cyberspace and rumors published in the context of Covid-19 in Khuzestan province

Mahjoob, Banafsheh; Taei, Nargess; Mojadam, Mehdi

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Volume 2, Issue 3 (Autumn 2024)

Health Res Develop 2024, 2(3): 70-78

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Investigating people's views on cyberspace and rumors published in the context of Covid-19 in Khuzestan province

Banafsheh Mahjoob¹

, Nargess Taei²

, Mehdi Mojadam ^*

1- Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz
2- Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz
3- Assistant Professor of Health in Disasters and Emergencies, Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran , mehdi.8984@yahoo.com

Abstract: (203 Views)

Introduction: With the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the spread of misinformation on social media was increasing daily. Disease outbreaks often create misconceptions that mislead people about the dangers they face and how best to protect themselves. Therefore, this study was conducted with the aim of investigating people's views on cyberspace and rumors about the coronavirus in Khuzestan province.
Materials and Methods: The present study was a cross-sectional study using quantitative online survey data. The research tool is a structured questionnaire is about checking rumors and false information about the corona virus in cyber space (30 questions) and the knowledge of using cyber space (13 questions). Descriptive and analytical statistics were used to analyze the data with the help of Stata12 software.
Results: Out of 1042 respondents, 748 were women and 412 were 25-34 years old. The mean (standard deviation) of misinformation published about the coronavirus disease was 105.3 (12.7) and people's knowledge about cyberspace was 19.7 (3.3). No statistically significant correlation was observed between the amount of misinformation published and people's knowledge of cyberspace about the coronavirus disease (p value = 0.2). There was a statistically significant difference in the mean of misinformation and rumors between age groups (p value = 0.003), education level (p value = 0.0001) and job status (p value = 0.0001).
Conclusion: According to the results, programs should be set up to increase awareness and knowledge of the public in order to use virtual space and strategies to prevent the use of false information. Multi-stakeholder interventions are necessary to curb this phenomenon and use the power of social media to disseminate reliable and verified information.

Keywords: Covid-19, misinformation, social media, Knowledge

Full-Text [PDF 1162 kb] (38 Downloads)

Type of Study: Original | Subject: Special
Received: 2024/06/1 | Accepted: 2024/12/13 | Published: 2024/10/31

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Mahjoob B, Taei N, Mojadam M. (2024). Investigating people's views on cyberspace and rumors published in the context of Covid-19 in Khuzestan province. Health Res Develop. 2(3), 70-78.
URL: http://jhrd.trjums.ac.ir/article-1-68-en.html

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