Project News
- Jula presented her research on emotions in online discussions at COMPTEXT Amsterdam
- Hannah gave a Webinar at klimaaktiv with the title “Social Media sind (k)ein Klimakiller”.
- Podcast by Hannah at DerStandard on social media, emotions, misinformation & climate change
- Update about research on our project at Uni Vienna.
- Video on our research and its relevance in the Digital Humanism series
- A one-page chapter on Emotions and group dynamics around misinformation on social media.
- Our first pre-print: Twitter thread or full version.
Our project in the media
- Social media and debates about climate change
- APA
- DerStandard
- Science.ORF
- FM4 news
- blogpost by Mimikama.
- This article at Kurier explains the nuanced role of emotions around misinformation.
- This article at APA argues for a nuanced perspective on the role of social media.
Project Team
- Hannah Metzler (PI), Meduni Wien & Complexity Science Hub Vienna
- David Garcia (Co-PI), University of Konstanz & Complexity Science Hub Vienna
- Annie Waldherr (Co-PI), University of Vienna
- Apeksha Shetty (PhD student), Complexity Science Hub Vienna
- Jula Lühring (PhD student), University of Vienna
Follow us on social media for regular updates!
About the project
In November 2021, we started the project Emotional Misinformation – The Interplay of Emotion and Misinformation Spreading on Social Media (EMOMIS). It is funded by the Vienna Science and Technology Fund (WWTF) for a period of three years and 4 months. What we do in 5 bullet points:
- We have investigated how emotional state influences discernment between true and false news, and which emotions such news trigger, and what their function in the processing of misinformation is.
- We investigate the large-scale interplay of emotions around news of different trustworthiness on Twitter from 2020 to 2023.
- We evaluate ways of measuring misinformation in social media data.
- We develop novel interventions that consider the social identities our believes and emotions around them are linked to.
- We simulate the dynamics of emotions around news, and the potential effect of algorithmic interventions on misinformation spreading using Agent Based Modelling.
For more:
- Summary of project results in April 2024
- Slides of our first online study on how emotions and fake news recognition are related.
- Slides of a talk at the Conference on Intelligent Machines, Emotions and the Planet
- Video of a panel discussion, including a brief introduction to EMOMIS, starting at at 29 minutes into the video.
- Eine Übersicht zu unserem Projekt auf deutsch, mit vielen anderen spannenden Forschungsergebnissen gibt es hier.
Project talks
Conference and seminar talks
- Lühring, J. (14 May 2024) Misinformation in den sozialen Medien, guest lecture, University of Vienna.
- Shetty, A. (16 May 2024) Emotional Dynamics and Algorithmic Interventions: Curbing Misinformation Among Political Elites on Twitter, University of Konstanz.
- Lühring, J. (4 May 2024) Effects of Misinformation on Emotions in Online Discussions, COMPTEXT, Amsterdam.
- Shetty, A. (21-22 November 2023) Emotions in misinformation studies: Distinguishing affective state from emotional response and misinformation recognition from acceptance, 5th Symposium on Multidisciplinary International Symposium on Disinformation in Open Online Media, Amsterdam.
- Lühring, J. (25-29 May 2023) Measuring emotions in misinformation studies: Distinguishing emotional state from response and misinformation recognition from susceptibility, 73rd Annual Conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), Toronto.
- Metzler, H. (8 February 2023) Measuring emotions in misinformation studies: Distinguishing emotional state from response and misinformation recognition from susceptibility, Expert Workshop on Mis- and disinformation, Zürich, University of Zurich. Slides
- Shetty, A. (23-25 February 2023) Measuring emotions in misinformation studies: A replication and extension of Martel et al. (2020) Online presentation. Annual Convention of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology.
- Metzler, H. (14 January 2022). Emotional misinformation spreading: The interplay of emotions and misinformation on social media, Conference on Intelligent Machines, Emotions, and the Planet, Stockholm. Slides.
- Shetty, A., & Hannah Metzler (27 June 2022). Reducing belief in misinformation: Targeting emotional and social influences. Pre-data poster. Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science, 7th Annual Conference.
- Lühring, J.*, Shetty, A.*, Koschmieder, C., Garcia, D., Waldherr, A., & Metzler, H. (11 October 2022). Measuring emotions in misinformation studies: A replication and extension of Martel et al. (2020). [Accepted paper & presentation]. ECREA Early Career Scholars Workshop in Political Communication: “Advancing Concepts and Methods in Political Communication.” *Equal contributions.
Outreach
- 2024-05-29: Upcoming ORF 1 documentary Dok 1: “Jeder gegen Jeden? Österreich rastet aus” [“Everyone against Everyone: Austria goes berserk”], social media effects on hate speech
- Metzler, H. (6 May 2024). Social Media sind (k)ein Klimakiller. Webinar bei klimaaktiv (Initiative des Bundesministeriums für Klimaschutz, Umwelt, Energie, Mobilität, Innovation und Technologie), Recording. Folien.
- Metzler, H. (3 May 2024). Wahrheit gegen Lüge: Die Psychologie hinter Fake News. DerStandard Podcast Edition Zukunft Klimafragen.
- Metzler, H. (12 March 2024). Der EU Digital Services Act: Chancen für den Forschungsstandort Wien, panelist on the relevance of the DSA for research, event organized by MA23 and WWTF, at waff Vienna.
- Arndt, A., Lühring, J. & Waldherr, A. (17 November 2023). Forschungsprojekte am Institut: EMOMIS – Fehlinformationen und Emotionen auf Social Media, Blog post, University of Vienna.
- Metzler, H. (27 September 2023). Science communication video on our research and its relevance in the Digital Humanism series, Complexity Science Hub Vienna.
- Metzler, H. (20 April 2022).Digital Humanism - How to Put Humans at the Center of Emerging Tech, Panel discussion, Wilson Center. Video including a brief introduction to the Emotion & Misinformation project (at 29 minutes).
- Metzler, H.(18 November 2021). Emotional Misinformation: The interplay of emotions and misinformation spreading on social media, Vienna Art Week, Session on „Regaining Control. Der Mensch im Zentrum der technologischen Entwicklung“. Slides.
Publications
For the general public
- Metzler, H. (2023). Emotions and group dynamics around misinformation on social media, Chapter 4, Synthesis Report on Climate misinformation in a climate of misinformation, Stockholm Resilience Centre.
Pre-prints
- Lühring, J.*, Shetty, A.*, Koschmieder, C., Garcia, D., Waldherr, A., & Metzler, H. (2023). Emotions in misinformation studies: Distinguishing affective state from emotional response and misinformation recognition from acceptance. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/udqms. Data, Code, Pre-registration & SI.
Publications
- Metzler, H., & Garcia, D. (2023). Social drivers and algorithmic mechanisms on digital media. Perspectives on Psychological Science 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916231185057.
Internships
- March-July 2024: Gabija Aurylaite from University of Vienna runs our first large social identity intervention.
- June-August 2023: Ruggero Lazzaroni from RWTH Aachen did a summer research internship at the CSH, funded by an Erasmus scholraship, to investigate the validity of the NewsGuard news reliability ratings
- Since September 2023: Adam Urosevic joined us for an internship with Jula Lühring on reconstructing the Austrian Twitter network around political news, in relation to the reliability of news shared.