The State of Misinformation Research on Social Media
Misinformation and disinformation about politics, health, and other topics are facts of social media life, though their prevalence has dramatically increased over recent years, and will rapidly transform again with AI. Both academic researchers and social media platforms attempt to mitigate the impacts of such false or misleading information, though not necessarily with the same outcomes in mind. This talk will provide an overview of the current state of our understanding of mis/disinformation on social media, how users engage in and are affected by it, what the latest communication research reveals about how to fight it, and questions about the ethics and responsibilities of sharing content online. 

Anne Oeldorf-Hirsch, PhD (she/her)
Associate Professor
Department of Communication, University of Connecticut

Dr. Anne Oeldorf-Hirsch is an associate professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Connecticut, where she conducts research in the Human-Computer Interaction lab. Her research investigates the experience social media users have engaging with information on social media, and the interface designs that influence this experience. Specifically, this work focuses on learning from news content, disputing misinformation and disinformation, and the effects of health and science communication online. She is also a recent Fulbright scholar at Universität Duisburg-Essen in Germany, which launched her latest line of research focused on algorithmic literacy.