Dissemination of a Controversial COVID-19 ‘Miracle Cure’ on Twitter: The Case of Chlorine Dioxide | Chapter 7 | New Ideas Concerning Arts and Social Studies Vol. 3

The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to all types of beliefs, theories, and explanations, whether scientific, religious, or conspiratorial. At the beginning of the pandemic, science did not yet have a medicinal product for this new disease, and alternative medicines offering “miracle cures” were acclaimed by some citizens looking for an effective treatment for COVID-19. The content of these beliefs then evolves with our societies to include additional current aspects, such as distrust of authorities, conspiracy theories, or antivaccinism. Adherence to conspiratorial beliefs, alternative medicine, and rejection of political or medical authorities have affected the way citizens accept recommendations concerning COVID-19. This study aims to study a specific “miracle cure”, namely, chlorine dioxide, a bleaching agent for textiles or paper that also has disinfectant properties (water, surfaces). The dissemination of information about chlorine dioxide to French-speaking people on the social network Twitter from 1 December 2019 to 30 November 2021 is analysed using a graph network. A total of 1,252 messages were collected, containing 596 unique tweets. An analysis of tweets per user was conducted to identify bot accounts, and fake users were removed from the collected data. The results show that messages promoting misinformation, even if they are likely to be quantitatively less numerous, spread more widely than those based on more reliable information. In addition, this article shows that chlorine dioxide was promoted as an effective cure by medical doctors and peer-reviewed articles, which consequently increased the dissemination of this belief in the social space. Consequently, the process of misinformation entered the sphere of scientific controversy. When scientists have unverified beliefs and try to publish them, the beliefs become potential knowledge until the process of replication allows the scientific community to decide. The boundary between science and misinformation is becoming blurred to the point that it is no longer possible until proven otherwise to call chlorine dioxide a “false miracle cure” but a controversial treatment against COVID-19.

 

Author(s) Details

Romy Sauvayre
Laboratoire de Psychologie Sociale et Cognitive, CNRS, Université Clermont Auvergne, F-63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France and Polytech Clermont, Clermont Auvergne INP, F-63178 Aubière, France.

 

Please see the book here:- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/nicass/v3/5587

Descriptive Models of Organization and Management within an Economic Entity as System: Scientific Approach | Chapter 8 | Current Strategies in Economics and Management Vol. 4

The systemic approach in management does not oppose holism to reductionism nor a global approach to a local approach but rather tries to reconcile analytical images to integrative images, showing that the whole is reflected in each of its parts and each part is a small-scale projection of the whole. The systemic approach does not give up the logical and analytical tools which investigate reality by dissecting, fragmenting and decomposing it into its constituents, but it recovers them to obtain morphological, synthetic, dynamic and lively development of this reality. The principle of system approach uses deduction and induction, analysis and synthesis, to discover internal interrelationships and connections that drive complex organized assemblies. The true values of this approach are found not in simplistic schemes such as "input-output" or in "circular" models that economics and management textbooks are full of and which, ultimately, establish a different kind of formalism. We are interested in the formulation and implementation of the descriptive management, i.e. what managers decide to do, the alternatives of action and final stage of implementation and the feedback absolutely necessary.

Author(s)  Details

 Alexandru Trifu
University “Petre Andrei” of Iasi, Romania.

View Book :- http://bp.bookpi.org/index.php/bpi/catalog/book/198