The Institute for Korean Studies presents:
Social orchestration of the infodemic: in search of an exit of K-COVID-19
Eun Kyong Shin
Korea University
Flyer: Forthcoming
Abstract: Infectious disease is not a mere pathological matter but a social disaster. The longer the pandemic persists, the more complex the infodemic becomes, and the higher its social costs. An overabundance of information with high uncertainty brews high levels of social distrust that can impede the efficient deliberation. Implementing integrated infodemiology over the digital K-COVID-19 corpus from social media (1,724,027 tweets) and news media (43,057 articles), this study provides reliable empirical evidence to detect social consensus and conflicts in epidemic discourse. Infodemic can be amplified through digital platforms and spread further and faster than the virus and the infectious disease control in the digital era, infodemic surveillance is a pivotal part of the pandemic control. Well-designed data curation and analysis is critical for efficient health resource circulation and distribution. Thus, adequate and appropriate pandemic risk management should involve a larger and inclusive expert community and secure diverse communication channels.