Infodemic in a Pandemic Era: An Analysis of Twitter Misinformation on COVID-19 in Nigeria

Authors

  • Okolie Kosisochukwu Shirley Department of Mass Communication Imo State University, Owerri, Nigeria
  • Odionyenma Chimeremeze Uzondu Department of Mass Communication Imo State University, Owerri, Nigeria
  • Cynthia Chiamaka Onyebuchi Department of Mass Communication Imo State University, Owerri, Nigeria
  • Alexander Chima Onyebuchi, PhD Department of Mass Communication Imo State University, Owerri, Nigeria
  • Eteng-Martins Chioma Department of Mass Communication Imo State University, Owerri, Nigeria

Keywords:

Infodemic, Corona Virus

Abstract

Using content analysis, the researchers content-analysed Twitter content on COVID-19 from
January 2021 to march 2021. Coding sheet was used as the instrument of data collection. The
technological determinism theory was used by the researchers to situate the study. The population
of the study was 620 tweets on Twitter platform for the three months. The researchers found that
majority of the tweets on misinformation on coronavirus originated from individuals with
unverified handles. This is based on the fact that 54.7% of the tweets were from individuals. The
researchers, therefore, recommended that social media organisations should device a way to track
and remove blatant misinformation from trending searches or introduce a new reporting feature
for users to flag misinformation as they come across it.

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Published

2021-01-01

How to Cite

Okolie Kosisochukwu Shirley, Odionyenma Chimeremeze Uzondu, Cynthia Chiamaka Onyebuchi, Alexander Chima Onyebuchi, PhD, & Eteng-Martins Chioma. (2021). Infodemic in a Pandemic Era: An Analysis of Twitter Misinformation on COVID-19 in Nigeria. GVU Journal of Management and Social Sciences, 6(2), 177–184. Retrieved from https://gvucolmass.site/index.php/gvu-jmss/article/view/47

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 2 (2021): SAU Journal of Management and Social Sciences

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2021 Okolie Kosisochukwu Shirley, Odionyenma Chimeremeze Uzondu, Cynthia Chiamaka Onyebuchi, Alexander Chima Onyebuchi, PhD, Eteng-Martins Chioma

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