Social media platforms play an increasingly influential role in shaping how health information is produced, shared, and interpreted, particularly during periods of uncertainty such as public health crises. This Science Talk examines the state of social media research with a specific focus on health-related disinformation, exploring how misleading, false, or conspiratorial narratives emerge, spread, and gain traction online. Drawing on research on vaccines, COVID-19, and other health topics, the presentation highlights how social media has become both a vital source of real-time public insight and a key vector for health misinformation.
Dr. Wasim will introduce key methodological approaches for studying health disinformation on social media, including social network analysis, content and sentiment analysis, and digital ethnography. Through illustrative case studies, it demonstrates how network visualization can reveal influential actors, coordinated behavior, and community structures that sustain disinformation narratives. Overall, the talk aims to equip researchers, practitioners, and policymakers with a clearer understanding of how health disinformation operates on social media and how research can inform more effective responses.
Speaker
Dr. Wasim Ahmed
Research Fellow, Social Network Science and Digital Disinformation
