ABSTRACT

During a time of heightened political polarization in India, use of the communication app WhatsApp skyrocketed. Alongside benefits of the app come a slew of dangerous outcomes, such as the proliferation of misinformation on the chat-based app. To this end, we conducted 19 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with Indian users of WhatsApp over the age of 40. The aim of study was to examine how WhatsApp users engage with the platform and the content they access through it in order to mediate through political polarization at an already divisive time.” Our results yielded three overarching themes: First, participants rarely engage in accuracy determination tactics. Second, they expressed familiarity with politically polarizing content but claimed not to engage with it. Third, they expressed intense hopes for future effective content moderation on WhatsApp. By applying cultivation theory to these insights, we examine how the app creates a reality for its users based on media socialization and the truth effect. Our participants’ insights and our subsequent analysis challenge the top-down-centric approach of many technology companies and governments to curb misinformation. We instead propose a holistic approach that better advances our understanding of the misinformation ecosystem.

摘要

在印度政治两极分化加剧的时期，通讯应用程序 WhatsApp 的使用量猛增。除了应用程序的好处之外，还有一系列危险的结果，例如基于聊天的应用程序上错误信息的扩散。为此，我们对 40 岁以上的印度 WhatsApp 用户进行了 19 次半结构化的深度访谈。研究的目的是检查 WhatsApp 用户如何与平台互动以及他们通过平台访问的内容，以便了解在已经分裂的时期通过政治两极分化进行调解。” 我们的结果产生了三个首要主题：首先，参与者很少参与准确性确定策略。其次，他们表示熟悉政治两极分化的内容，但声称不参与其中。第三，他们对未来在 WhatsApp 上进行有效的内容审核表达了强烈的希望。通过将培养理论应用于这些见解，我们研究了该应用程序如何基于媒体社交和真相效应。我们参与者的见解和我们随后的分析挑战了许多科技公司和政府以自上而下为中心的方法来遏制错误信息。相反，我们提出了一种整体方法，可以更好地促进我们对错误信息生态系统的理解。