How to deal with the massive dissemination of information about the ongoing pandemic? And how to measure their effect on pandemic management? These are the main questions that a team of experts comprising computational epidemiologists and WHO and CDC (American, Chinese and African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) representatives, coordinated by Walter Quattrociocchi of the Department of Computer Science of Sapienza University of Rome, are trying to answer in a new study published in the journal Cell. Researchers have tried to relate the two phenomena, the pandemic and the infodemic, highlighting the essential differences and the strong interconnections between them and the possibility that they can influence each other.

One of the first points highlighted by the study is the difference between the two phenomena: the process of virus dissemination, unlike information, does not benefit from optionality. It is, indeed, impossible to decide to accept, or not to accept, the virus presence. In contrast, each user has the possibility of accepting one piece of information rather than another, rejecting those that are not to their liking.

Behavioural biases, i.e. prejudices developed based on the interpretation of information, were another study's key element. Knowing the dynamics we put in place when processing information is essential for effective communication and better management of the pandemic. The first behaviour we examined was confirmation bias, i.e. the tendency to seek information that confirms our beliefs and, at the same time, ignore information that might in some way contradict them. This type of attitude is also found at the community level in the second type of bias, the echo chamber: this term refers to the creation of homophilic communities, groups of individuals who associate themselves on the basis of sharing a common narrative (truth), which thus finds a way of reinforcing each other.

Therefore, both biases are characterised by polarisation, i.e. the bias often determined by the media's attitude in conveying information related to the pandemic. Therefore, we should start from here to tackle the infodemic phenomenon, which, as the study points out, has direct effects on pandemic management.

The use and potential of Data Science should not be underestimated," says Walter Quattorciocchi. "Applied to social contexts, it could be used to better understand, and possibly even predict, the evolution of public opinion and its effects on both societies and policies for pandemic management.

References: 

Infodemics: A new challenge for public health - Sylvie C. Briand, Matteo Cinelli. Tim Nguyen, Akhona Tshangela, Lei Zhou, Walter Quattrociocchi - Cell 2021 DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2021.10.031

Further Information:

Walter Quattrociocchi
Department of Computer Science
walter.quattrociocchi@uniroma1.it