The Disjointed Fight Against Mis(Dis)information: Medical ‘Infodemic’ Dissociated from the Complex Social Process of Communication

The Disjointed Fight Against Mis(Dis)information: Medical ‘Infodemic’ Dissociated from the Complex Social Process of Communication

Brittany N. Shivers (Ph.D. student). “The Disjointed Fight Against Mis(Dis)information: Medical ‘Infodemic’ Dissociated from the Complex Social Process of Communication,” paper accepted for presentation at the 50th AEJMC Southeast Colloquium, Chapel Hill, NC, March.

Abstract: By comparing Gunther Eysenbach’s infodemic model with Claire Wardle’s information disorder framework, this paper critiques the conceptual gaps of infodemic, particularly the failure of the model to consider communication as a ritualistic and interactive process. The term "infodemic," popularized during the COVID-19 pandemic, has become a widely accepted concept to investigate proliferation of misinformation in public health contexts. Coined by Eysenbach in 2002, the concept describes the overabundance of information—both accurate and false—that complicates health decision-making. However, this paper argues that the infodemic model, rooted in a classical liberal transmission model of communication, does not adequately address the complexities of misinformation as a socially constructed phenomenon. Drawing on the ritual view of communication, symbolic interactionism, and the critical political economy of communications, this work proposes alternative paradigms for understanding the creation, dissemination, and reception of misinformation. These paradigms account for the dynamic interplay of social, cultural, and economic factors, emphasizing that misinformation is not simply an “epidemic” but is created through a process embedded within societal structures and power dynamics. By integrating insights from communication and public health scholarship, the goal of this work is to foster interdisciplinary collaboration to develop ethical and contextually tailored strategies for managing information crises.

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