Decoding Internet rumours in the twenty-first century: An interdisciplinary examination of social media

Abstract

Since the development of Web 2.0 enabled interactive experience on the Internet, the media ecology of social networking in humanities is becoming more complex. During times of critical social change, the role of social media in provoking and organizing social movements is demonstrated around the world. In Hong Kong, during the Umbrella Revolution, social media provided a channel for individuals to disseminate their first-hand experiences more rapidly than they could via traditional media. Breaking news could be transmitted via digital media, and rumours would spread more quickly and broadly on social media than by word of mouth. For instance, a photo of a People’s Liberation Army tank posted on Facebook triggered mass panic, but other netizens disproved the rumour on finding that the photo had been taken at a different event. A number of studies have found that public concern over an ambiguous event can induce anxiety and inspire the formation of rumours to relieve the tension that comes from uncertainty. Based on the theoretical framework of rumour development and transmission, this study uses a mixed-method content analysis, with quantitative examination of prominent words and in-depth thematic discussion of webpage contents searched via Yahoo Hong Kong. Nine of 17 sites were examined, and 22 incidents of rumour formation were investigated in terms of models of formation, means of communication, and types of rumours. The results of this study were inconsistent as to whether social media were more prominent than traditional media. Moreover, the motivation to spread rumours may be conscious rather than unconscious, and individuals’ need for cognition played a role in dispelling rumours. Two additional types of rumours, based on empathy and condemnation, were also identified in the Hong Kong Chinese context. Effective information transfer and spread of rumours are two sides of the same coin in the era of contemporary digital media. The chapter also discusses ideas and implications for further research.