SIS Seminar Series - Amira Ghenai

Title: "Health Misinformation in Search and Social Media”

Abstract: People increasingly rely on the Internet in order to search for and share health-related information. While this is a convenient and fast method to collect information, online sources may contain incorrect information that has the potential to cause harm, especially if people believe what they read without further research or professional medical advice.
The goal of this research is to address the misinformation problem in two of the most commonly used online services: search engines and social media platforms. We examined how people use these platforms to search for and share health information. To achieve this, we designed controlled laboratory user studies and employed large-scale social media data analysis tools. The solutions proposed can be used to build systems that better support peoples' health-related decisions.