Pavlenko Boris
International Center for the Study of Institutions and Development, HSE University, Moscow, Russian Federation.
JMIR Infodemiology. 2025 Jun 26;5:e58302. doi: 10.2196/58302.
The outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 in 2019 was accompanied by a rise in the popularity of conspiracy theories. These theories often undermined vaccination efforts. There is evidence that the spread of misinformation about COVID-19 is associated with online social media use. Online social media enables network effects that influence the dissemination of information. It is important to distinguish between the effects of using social media and the network effects that occur within the platform.
This study aims to investigate the association between the modularity of online social networks and the spread of, as well as attitudes toward, information and misinformation about COVID-19.
This study used data from the social network structure of the online social media platform Vkontakte (VK) to construct an adjusted modularity index (fragmentation index) for 166 Russian towns. VK is a widely used Russian social media platform. The study combined town-level network indices with data from the poll "Research on COVID-19 in Russia's Regions" (RoCIRR), which included responses from 23,000 individuals. The study measured respondents' knowledge of both fake and true statements about COVID-19, as well as their attitudes toward these statements.
A positive association was observed between town-level fragmentation and individuals' knowledge of fake statements, and a negative association with knowledge of true statements. There is a strong negative association between fragmentation and the average attitude toward true statements (P<.001), while the association with attitudes toward fake statements is positive but statistically insignificant (P=.55). Additionally, a strong association was found between network fragmentation and ideological differences in attitudes toward true versus fake statements.
While social media use plays an important role in the diffusion of health-related information, the structure of social networks can amplify these effects. Social network modularity plays a key role in the spread of information, with differing impacts on true and fake statements. These differences in information dissemination contribute to variations in attitudes toward true and fake statements about COVID-19. Ultimately, fragmentation was associated with individual-level polarization on medical topics. Future research should further explore the interaction between social media use and underlying network effects.
2019年严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）的爆发伴随着阴谋论的盛行。这些理论常常破坏疫苗接种工作。有证据表明，关于2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）的错误信息传播与在线社交媒体的使用有关。在线社交媒体会产生网络效应，影响信息传播。区分使用社交媒体的效果和平台内发生的网络效应很重要。
本研究旨在调查在线社交网络的模块化与COVID-19相关信息及错误信息的传播和态度之间的关联。
本研究使用在线社交媒体平台Vkontakte（VK）的社交网络结构数据，为166个俄罗斯城镇构建了一个调整后的模块化指数（碎片化指数）。VK是俄罗斯广泛使用的社交媒体平台。该研究将城镇层面的网络指数与“俄罗斯各地区COVID-19研究”（RoCIRR）民意调查数据相结合，该调查涵盖了23000人的回复。该研究衡量了受访者对关于COVID-19的真假陈述的了解程度，以及他们对这些陈述的态度。
观察到城镇层面的碎片化与个人对虚假陈述的了解之间存在正相关，与对真实陈述的了解之间存在负相关。碎片化与对真实陈述的平均态度之间存在强烈的负相关（P<0.001），而与对虚假陈述的态度之间的关联为正，但在统计学上不显著（P=0.55）。此外，发现网络碎片化与对真实陈述和虚假陈述态度的意识形态差异之间存在强烈关联。
虽然社交媒体的使用在健康相关信息的传播中起着重要作用，但社交网络的结构可以放大这些影响。社交网络模块化在信息传播中起关键作用，对真实和虚假陈述有不同影响。这些信息传播上的差异导致了对COVID-19真假陈述态度的差异。最终，碎片化与医疗话题上的个人层面两极分化有关。未来的研究应进一步探索社交媒体使用与潜在网络效应之间的相互作用。
