From March 10 to 16, the Pew Research Center conducted a study of recent news reports on the US election and the epidemic, and found that people who mainly obtain information through social platforms are most likely to misunderstand the epidemic.
The survey noted that this group of people accounted for 18% of the total U.S. adult population and that they performed relatively poorly in answering questions about when the vaccine was available.
(From: Pew Research Center)
The survey involved 8,914 U.S. adults, highlighting the different impacts of today's complex information channels (print media, radio, local television, national television, cable television, social networks, news sites / apps) on audiences.
Overall, the โSocial Media Firstโ group accounted for 18%, and they were younger, Hispanics were higher, there was no strong partisan tendency, and they were less interested in political news.
Unfortunately, more than half of the U.S. adult population that relies heavily on social media for political news is susceptible to false news about COVID-19.
About four out of ten (37%) of groups who rely on social media for political and election news say they follow the news about the epidemic very closely, the lowest rate of all channels.
The penultimate (44%) of those who rely mainly on local television and radio, and about two-thirds (65%) of those who watch political news via cable TV.
Overall, eight out of ten social media news audiences said they were at least watching the news of the outbreak fairly closely.ย Despite the majority, the ratio is still the lowest of the seven groups.
In contrast, audiences who watch political news mainly through cable television (95%), national television (94%), and news websites (92%) have paid close attention to the epidemic quite or very closely.
More than half (57%) of the majority of the people who rely on social media for news are suffering from fake news about the outbreak, with the highest proportion among all groups.ย Only 37% of those who prefer print media say they are misled.
Obviously, news sources on social platforms are more likely to exaggerate descriptions of viruses or threats.ย Seventy percent of them said that the media had aggressively or slightly exaggerated the risks, while radio and news site audiences were 69% and 67%, respectively.
At the same time, 45% of social media news audiences reported that the media greatly exaggerated the risks (the highest proportion of the seven groups), followed by broadcast news audiences (44%).
The survey also asked when the COVID-19 vaccine could be used, and approximately four-tenths (37%) of social media news audiences gave answers (a year or more) consistent with public health experts.
The main reason is that more social media news audiences expressed uncertainty (33%), second only to local television news audiences (33%).ย The local TV news audience's awareness is 32%, and the other groups gave more than half of the correct answers.
More on Health
