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Identifying and Analyzing Health-Related Themes in Disinformation Shared by Conservative and Liberal Russian Trolls on Twitter

Author

Listed:
  • Amir Karami

    (School of Information Science, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA)

  • Morgan Lundy

    (School of Information Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61820, USA)

  • Frank Webb

    (Department of Computational and Data Sciences, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA)

  • Gabrielle Turner-McGrievy

    (Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA)

  • Brooke W. McKeever

    (School of Journalism and Mass Communications, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA)

  • Robert McKeever

    (School of Journalism and Mass Communications, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA)

Abstract

To combat health disinformation shared online, there is a need to identify and characterize the prevalence of topics shared by trolls managed by individuals to promote discord. The current literature is limited to a few health topics and dominated by vaccination. The goal of this study is to identify and analyze the breadth of health topics discussed by left (liberal) and right (conservative) Russian trolls on Twitter. We introduce an automated framework based on mixed methods including both computational and qualitative techniques. Results suggest that Russian trolls discussed 48 health-related topics, ranging from diet to abortion. Out of the 48 topics, there was a significant difference ( p -value ≤ 0.004) between left and right trolls based on 17 topics. Hillary Clinton’s health during the 2016 election was the most popular topic for right trolls, who discussed this topic significantly more than left trolls. Mental health was the most popular topic for left trolls, who discussed this topic significantly more than right trolls. This study shows that health disinformation is a global public health threat on social media for a considerable number of health topics. This study can be beneficial for researchers who are interested in political disinformation and health monitoring, communication, and promotion on social media by showing health information shared by Russian trolls.

Suggested Citation

  • Amir Karami & Morgan Lundy & Frank Webb & Gabrielle Turner-McGrievy & Brooke W. McKeever & Robert McKeever, 2021. "Identifying and Analyzing Health-Related Themes in Disinformation Shared by Conservative and Liberal Russian Trolls on Twitter," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-16, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:4:p:2159-:d:504074
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Amir Karami & London S. Bennett & Xiaoyun He, 2018. "Mining Public Opinion about Economic Issues: Twitter and the U.S. Presidential Election," International Journal of Strategic Decision Sciences (IJSDS), IGI Global, vol. 9(1), pages 18-28, January.
    2. Kim, Jae H. & Ji, Philip Inyeob, 2015. "Significance testing in empirical finance: A critical review and assessment," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 1-14.
    3. Heidi J. Larson, 2018. "The biggest pandemic risk? Viral misinformation," Nature, Nature, vol. 562(7727), pages 309-309, October.
    4. Gabrielle Turner-McGrievy & Amir Karami & Courtney Monroe & Heather M. Brandt, 2020. "Dietary pattern recognition on Twitter: a case example of before, during, and after four natural disasters," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 103(1), pages 1035-1049, August.
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