In addition to being formally defined as a pandemic, COVID-19 has been classified as an “infodemic” and “(mis)infodemic.” As an “infodemic,” the information environment on COVID-19 is constantly evolving, with emerging scientific findings, political responses, media coverage, and individual impressions all shared on social media. Initial positions on behaviors and potential treatments were presented and then discarded because of low efficacy or improper research procedures. Further, there has been a fragmented geopolitical response with differing political systems exhibiting varying approaches to decision making and health outcomes, which has lead to confusion of the public. As a “misinfodemic,” COVID-19 discussions have also attracted actors seeking to share misinformation enabled and exacerbated by social media networks, which include willful distortions as well as conspiracy theories. Combined, this (mis)infodemic can change risk perceptions of travel, resulting in travel patterns based on technological, regulatory, and perceived behavioral homophily.

除了被正式定义为大流行病之外，COVID-19还被分类为“ infodemic”和“（mis）infodemic”。作为一种“信息流行病”，COVID-19上的信息环境正在不断发展，新兴的科学发现，政治对策，媒体报道以及个人印象都在社交媒体上共享。提出了有关行为和潜在治疗方法的最初立场，然后由于功效低下或研究程序不当而被放弃。此外，地缘政治反应分散，不同的政治制度对决策和健康结果表现出不同的方法，这导致了公众的困惑。作为“错误信息流行病”，COVID-19的讨论也吸引了一些参与者，他们希望分享由社交媒体网络造成和加剧的错误信息，其中包括故意的歪曲以及阴谋论。综合起来，这种（错误的）信息流行病可以改变对旅行的风险认知，从而导致基于技术，法规和行为同质的旅行模式。