Journal article
The use of emotions in conspiracy and debunking videos to engage publics on YouTube
New media & society, Vol.26(7), pp.3854-3875
07/2024
DOI: 10.1177/14614448221105877
Abstract
With the rise of digital media, conspiracy theories infamous for their emotional manipulation have challenged science epistemology and democratic discourse. Despite extensive literature on misinformation and the role of emotion in persuasion, less is understood about how emotion is used in conspiracy and debunking messages on video platforms and the impact of emotional framing on public engagement with science on social media. Our article fills this gap by analyzing thousands of YouTube videos that propagate or debunk COVID-19 conspiracy theories from March to May 2020. We found that conspiracy and debunking videos used the emotions of trust and fear differently depending on the issue framing of the conspiracy. Our article also reveals a dilemma facing debunking messages-when debunking videos used more trust-related emotions, these videos received more likes yet fewer views. These findings shed new light on the role of emotion on user engagement with misinformation and its correction on digital platforms.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- The use of emotions in conspiracy and debunking videos to engage publics on YouTube
- Creators
- Sang Jung Kim - University of Wisconsin–MadisonKaiping Chen - University of Wisconsin–Madison
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- New media & society, Vol.26(7), pp.3854-3875
- DOI
- 10.1177/14614448221105877
- ISSN
- 1461-4448
- eISSN
- 1461-7315
- Publisher
- Sage
- Number of pages
- 22
- Language
- English
- Electronic publication date
- 07/06/2022
- Date published
- 07/2024
- Academic Unit
- Center for Social Science Innovation; School of Journalism and Mass Communication
- Record Identifier
- 9984460342002771
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