Social media are self-correcting

Another feature of social media is interaction. That means supervision over news producers against rumor-if they dare publish something unconfirmed, they will easily find themselves being challenged by readers, who also have a say and make others hear their voice. The more influential they are, the more they will be challenged, because more readers mean more careful scrutiny of what they post.

Thus there is ample reason to retain confidence that social media are self-correcting. They might be used to spread rumor, but as long as information flows freely they will be able to quickly counter the rumor with the truth.

It is then good to see that the authorities have gradually realized the correct way to deal with rumors is by countering them with the truth. After the terrorist attack on passengers at the railway station in Kunming, Yunnan province, on March 1, the local government published and updated information as soon as it became available, which successfully prevented rumors of more attacks from spreading.

Chinese officials have also responded to the loss of Flight MH370 effectively by publishing what information they have in a timely manner and interacting with the families of the passengers in a sincere manner. Their actions are the reason why rumors about the flight have disappeared so quickly.

Of course, the self-correcting abilities of social media also depend on the social media in question. Currently the two most popular social media platforms in China are micro blogs and WeChat, which have different privacy policies. As China's equivalent of twitter, micro blog platforms such as Sina Weibo allow users to freely create an account and follow others, while users' WeChat accounts are linked to their smartphone numbers and other information.

Because of this, the information spread via micro blogs flows more freely and it is usually micro blogs that are plagued by rumors first. WeChat on the other hand is like a gathering of close friends, and exhibits a greater immunity to rumor. However, it is also more difficult to correct a rumor with the truth via WeChat and it is micro blogs that can be used to swiftly counter rumors.

The battle against rumors will continue, but hopefully the self-correcting characteristics of social media can be used to effectively combat them.

The author is a writer with China Daily. zhangzhouxiang@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 03/11/2014 page9)

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