Description

In digitization, communication or information transmission occurs through 'word-of-media (WoMe)'. Online societal communities facilitate the dissemination of timely information worldwide.

The excessive usage of the Internet due to its ease of convenience and cost precipitates the creation and sharing of massive amounts of information rapidly. Exclusively in the medical domain, the users get instant access to vast information for healthcare practitioners and individuals. The survey shows 65% of users look up health-related information online. A medical practitioner writes blogs and provides online consultancies; people can seek assistance from these practitioners. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Internet was the information source for people and helped get quick remedies and other information from these practitioners. The innovations and technological growth have immensely facilitated society to stay connected and share helpful information. Conversely, this has also impacted the community with negative and false information dominantly. Deliberately generated fake contents have a long-lasting effect on the life of people.

The lack of factual evidence results in misinformation into rumors causing uncertainty and confusion among people. Disinformation is spread to deceive someone for financial gain or to promote an idea or belief. Another variant of false information is satirical news, which is applied with the intention of humor or irony, leading to adverse effects sometimes.