Disinformation and post-truth in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic: a study of information practices on Facebook

Abstract

The huge amount of information circulating on the internet about the Covid-19 pandemic generates many doubts in the population, contributing to feed a scenario in which disinformation and post-truth have become common. The article presents research on information practices in social networks, in the context of the pandemic. To this end, three public Facebook groups have been observed since April 2020, with the aim of ascertaining which themes are of most interest to Internet users, how different groups face events and how practices may, potentially, change over time. The ongoing study adopts netnography as a method and presents preliminary analysis and results for two specific dates: April 10, which marks the beginning of data collection, and July 7, when the loosening of social isolation measures in a large part of Brazil is registered. It is concluded that the groups behave in very different ways, according to the purpose of each one. In addition, there is a great influence of emotional factors, which end up directing the practices of Internet users, involving them in information bubbles