Rumor is a false or uncertain information that spreads from person to person and gains momentum through word of mouth. Its content is typically about public events, and it can be positive or negative. Rumors are commonly spread via social media such as Facebook and Twitter. These rumors may be unsubstantiated and can cause fear and anxiety in people.
The study of rumor has evolved significantly since the advent of social media. These social media platforms allow researchers to collect real-time reactions from individuals as a rumor spreads. This has enabled the study of rumor from a variety of perspectives, including psychological studies [9] and computational analyses [12].
Rumors can be classified by their subject matter (e.g., politics, sports, or weather), their veracity status (true, false, or uncertain) and the type of message that they convey (e.g., bogie, wedge, or pipe dream). It has been found that bogie and wedge rumors have greater likelihood of being disseminated than positive messages (pipe dreams).
When a rumor is retweeted, its followers tend to follow it more closely and share it with their friends. This can occur both while the rumor is unverified and once its veracity has been confirmed.
It has also been found that the more a rumor is related to a person’s daily life, the more it will spread. For example, the rumor that salt would be polluted by the Fukushima nuclear disaster was widely spread in 2011 and caused people to purchase large quantities of the product.
The rumor that an individual is going to become the next prime minister of England was spread by social media in 2016. This rumor became a trending topic on Twitter, but it later turned out to be untrue. It was only after this rumor spread that the Prime Minister of England officially announced the news.
It has been found that people can sway the veracity of a rumor by providing evidence in their responses. This evidence can be in the form of first-hand experience, quotation of a credible source, or use of reasoning. The evidentiality of a tweet also determines the number of times it is retweeted, as shown in Figure 16.