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Vienna Science and Technology Fund

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 with 400.000 Euros by the Vienna Science and Technology Fund (WWTF) until February 2025. 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 November 2024 (Recording
  • 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.

Publications

Pre-prints

  1. Lühring, J., Metzler, H., Lazzaroni, R. M., Shetty, A., & Lasser, J. (2024). Best practices for source-based research on misinformation and news trustworthiness. OSF. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/v6e4b
  2. 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.

Scientific journal articles

  1. Lühring, J.*, Shetty, A.*, Koschmieder, C., Garcia, D., Waldherr, A., & Metzler, H. (2024). Emotions in misinformation studies: Distinguishing affective state from emotional response and misinformation recognition from acceptance. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 9(1), 82. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-024-00607-0. Data, Code, Pre-registration & SI.
  2. 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.

For the general public

  1. Metzler, H. (22.08.2024). Mythos Fehlinformation: Warum soziale Medien weniger gefährlich sind, als wir denken, Spektrum der Wissenschaft online.
  2. Metzler, H. (26.08.2024). Mythos Fehlinformation: Warum soziale Medien weniger gefährlich sind, als wir denken, Spektrum - Die Woche 35/2024.
  3. 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.

Public talks, videos, podcasts, blogposts & more

  1. Metzler, H. (13 November 2024) The Social Dynamics around Misinformation Spreading on Social Media, Lecture Series: Foundation and Methods of Digital Humanism, BIG Lecture room, University of Vienna.
  2. Metzler, H. (24 October 2024) Radikale Hoffnung - wie überwinden wir die Polarisierung?, Panel discussion with Rudi Anschober & Ingrid Brodnig, IDEALE Konferenz, Vienna.
  3. Luehring, J. (07.10.2024). Misinformation und Fake News in den sozialen Medien: Einblicke in die interdisziplinäre Forschungslage., VHS Urania Schwerpunkt Demokratie.
  4. Metzler, H. (23 October 2024) Polarisierung durch Algorithmen? Demokratie und Meinungsbildung im digitalen Zeitalter – Mythen auf dem Prüfstand, Keynote speech & Panel at the Digital Days 2024, Technical Museum, Vienna.
  5. Metzler H. (29 May 2024) ORF 1 documentary Dok 1: “Jeder gegen Jeden? Österreich rastet aus” [“Everyone against Everyone: Austria goes berserk”]
  6. 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.
  7. Breit, L. & Metzler, H. (23.05.2024) Wieso glauben Menschen Falschnachrichten übers Klima?, DerStandard, Edition Zukunft.
  8. Metzler, H. (3 May 2024). Wahrheit gegen Lüge: Die Psychologie hinter Fake News. DerStandard Podcast Edition Zukunft Klimafragen.
  9. 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.
  10. Arndt, A., Lühring, J. & Waldherr, A. (17 November 2023). Forschungsprojekte am Institut: EMOMIS – Fehlinformationen und Emotionen auf Social Media, Blog post, University of Vienna.
  11. Metzler, H. (27 September 2023). Science communication video on our research and its relevance in the Digital Humanism series, Complexity Science Hub Vienna.
  12. 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).
  13. 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.

Conference and seminar talks

  1. Lühring, J. (4 September 2024) Effects of Misinformation on Online Dicussions, Symposium MISDOOM 2024, Münster, Germany.
  2. Shetty, A. (4 September 2024) Emotional Dynamics and Algorithmic Interventions: Curbing Misinformation Among Political Elites on Twitter, Symposium MISDOOM 2024, Münster, Germany.
  3. Luehring, J. (5 July 2024). Emotional misinformation diffusion: Mapping socio-affective dynamics in the digital information ecosystem. Invited talk at the Emotional Speech Workshop, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany.
  4. Lühring, J. (14 May 2024) Misinformation in den sozialen Medien, guest lecture in “Theories and Practices of Social Media Communication”, University of Vienna.
  5. Lühring, J. (June 2024) Effects of misinformation on online discussions, Invited talk at the Friday Talk Series (Complexity Science Hub, Vienna).
  6. Shetty, A. (16 May 2024) Emotional Dynamics and Algorithmic Interventions: Curbing Misinformation Among Political Elites on Twitter, University of Konstanz.
  7. Lühring, J. (4 May 2024) Effects of source trustworthiness on online discussions, 2024 COMPTEXT Meeting, 2024 COMPTEXT Meeting, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
  8. 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.
  9. 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, Canada.
  10. 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
  11. 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.
  12. 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.
  13. 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.
  14. 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.

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Internships

  • March-July 2024: Gabija Aurylaite from University of Vienna runs a large experiment with our social identity intervention.
  • 2023: Esther Simmendinger, Master thesis with David Garcia at University of Konstanz
  • 2023: Nele Hapig, Master thesis with David Garcia at University of Konstanz
  • 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.