research-article

A Study of Tweet Veracity to Separate Rumours from Counter-Rumours

Authors:

Alton Y. K. Chua,

Snehasish BanerjeeAuthors Info & Claims

#SMSociety17: Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Social Media & Society

Article No.: 4, Pages 1 - 8

https://doi.org/10.1145/3097286.3097290

Published: 28 July 2017 Publication History

Abstract

Rumours are known to propagate easily through computer-mediated communication channels such as Twitter. Their outbreak is often followed by the spread of 'counter-rumours', which are messages that debunk rumours. The probability of a tweet to be a counter-rumour is referred to as 'tweet veracity' in this paper. Since both rumours and counter-rumours are expected to contain claims of truth, the two might not be easily distinguishable. If Internet users fail to separate rumours from counter-rumours, the latter will not serve its purpose. Hence, this paper investigates the extent to which tweet veracity could be predicted by content as well as contributors' profile. The investigation focuses on the death hoax case of Singapore's first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew on Twitter. A total of 1,000 tweets (500 rumours + 500 counter-rumours) are analyzed using binomial logistic regression. Results indicate that tweet veracity could be predicted by clarity, proper nouns, visual cues, references to credible sources, as well as contributors' duration of membership, and number of followers. The significance of these findings are highlighted.

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Cited By

Marcondes FBarbosa MGala AAlmeida JNovais P(2024)Emotional and Mental Nuances and Technological Approaches: Optimising Fact-Check Dissemination through Cognitive Reinforcement TechniqueElectronics10.3390/electronics1301024013:1(240)Online publication date: 4-Jan-2024
https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics13010240
Pal ABanerjee S(2019)Understanding Online Falsehood From the Perspective of Social ProblemHandbook of Research on Deception, Fake News, and Misinformation Online10.4018/978-1-5225-8535-0.ch001(1-17)Online publication date: 2019
https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-8535-0.ch001
Chua ABanerjee S(2018)Rumors and rumor corrections on Twitter: Studying message characteristics and opinion leadership2018 4th International Conference on Information Management (ICIM)10.1109/INFOMAN.2018.8392837(210-214)Online publication date: May-2018
https://doi.org/10.1109/INFOMAN.2018.8392837

Index Terms

A Study of Tweet Veracity to Separate Rumours from Counter-Rumours
1. Applied computing
  1. Law, social and behavioral sciences

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#SMSociety17: Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Social Media & Society

July 2017

414 pages

ISBN:9781450348478

DOI:10.1145/3097286

Copyright © 2017 ACM.

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Published: 28 July 2017

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#SMSociety17: 2017 International Conference on Social Media & Society

July 28 - 30, 2017

ON, Toronto, Canada

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Cited By

Marcondes FBarbosa MGala AAlmeida JNovais P(2024)Emotional and Mental Nuances and Technological Approaches: Optimising Fact-Check Dissemination through Cognitive Reinforcement TechniqueElectronics10.3390/electronics1301024013:1(240)Online publication date: 4-Jan-2024
https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics13010240
Pal ABanerjee S(2019)Understanding Online Falsehood From the Perspective of Social ProblemHandbook of Research on Deception, Fake News, and Misinformation Online10.4018/978-1-5225-8535-0.ch001(1-17)Online publication date: 2019
https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-8535-0.ch001
Chua ABanerjee S(2018)Rumors and rumor corrections on Twitter: Studying message characteristics and opinion leadership2018 4th International Conference on Information Management (ICIM)10.1109/INFOMAN.2018.8392837(210-214)Online publication date: May-2018
https://doi.org/10.1109/INFOMAN.2018.8392837

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