Citing a special issue article recently published in Educational Psychologist, UMD College of Education reports:

From the coronavirus pandemic to climate change and presidential elections, misinformation surrounding important issues and current events is a growing and worrisome problem. Misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 virus, for instance, has permeated social media and is even being perpetuated by some world leaders, prompting public health officials to correct inaccuracies.

Researchers like Doug Lombardi, associate professor in COE’s Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, likens today’s flood of misinformation as living in a ‘post-truth era,’ where conjecture and emotional appeal are more important than logic and scientific reasoning in influencing public opinion.

“It’s a perfect storm of information availability, particularly through social media, and the rapid way that we can each distribute information, such as through Twitter,” Dr. Lombardi said.

Read the rest of the article here.

Read the cited paper here.