Center for an Informed Public

In a recently published Issues in Science and Technology article, @uwcip co-founders Emma Spiro and @katestarbird explore how decades-old research about how and why people share rumors is even more relevant today in a world with social media.

Spiro and Starbird write: "The study of rumors, which surged around World War II, is still very relevant."

➡️ Read more: https://www.cip.uw.edu/2023/05/19/spiro-starbird-rumors/

#UWCIP #Misinformation #Rumors #MisinformationResearch

In Issues in Science and Technology article, CIP’s Spiro and Starbird explore how ‘rumors have rules’ 

In “Rumors have rules,” the CIP’s Emma S. Spiro and Kate Starbird explore how decades-old research about how and why people share rumors is even more relevant today in a world with social med…

Center for an Informed Public
May 19, 2023 at 9:34pmWeb
Show threadCenter for an Informed PublicMay 19, 2023

In the article, Spiro and Starbird revisit the 1954 “Seattle windshield pitting epidemic,” an event where residents in WA reported finding unexplained pits, holes and other damage in their car windshields, leading to wide speculation about the cause. It’s “a textbook example of how rumors propagate: a sort of contagion, spread through social networks, shifting how people perceive patterns and interpret anomalies,” they write.

Read the article: https://issues.org/rumors-research-misinformation-spiro-starbird/

#UWCIP #PNW #WA

Rumors Have Rules

Decades-old research about how and why people share rumors is even more relevant in a world with social media.

Issues in Science and Technology