Hodson takes seat as Canada Research Chair in digital communication

With the swipe of a screen or the click of a button, COVID-19 has pushed much of our work and social interactions online. But the same technology that is being used to keep us safe from the virus has also amplified an “infodemic” that the World Health Organization has warned can challenge efforts to control its spread.

Science-related misinformation is not only a threat to our health, but also to the sustainability of our planet, says College of Interdisciplinary Studies Assoc. Prof. Jaigris Hodson.

“Climate change is a life or death situation,” she says urgently.

Jaigris Hodson takes seat as Canada Research Chair in digital communication

Hodson is a digital technologies researcher and social media consultant who has been studying social media and online information flows for 15 years. A former Mitacs Canadian Science Policy fellow, Hodson’s work focuses on the ways information travels or is impeded online, including the ways online harassment is used to silence women academics.

Hodson is a new Tier 2 Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Digital Communication for the Public Interest. The designation, announced Dec. 16 by the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, recognizes research excellence in some of the world’s most “promising and accomplished minds.”

Hodson is one of five sitting CRCs at Royal Roads University.

Over her five-year term, Hodson’s research will investigate what drives us to trust and share science-related misinformation, including the accidental spread of incomplete media reports, fake news and propaganda designed to deceive.

Her work aims to uncover how our relationships and identities influence the spread of misinformation.

A wicked problem

Misinformation isn’t a new problem, but the scale and speed at which it travels in the digital age, is.

It’s a wicked problem, says Hodson, and social media plays no small part.

“If we can take care of misinformation in one location, on one platform, on one issue, on one day, it will pop up on 30 more,” she says. “That’s the issue with social media, and it’s what makes this problem so important to look at right now.”

While an algorithm can tell us about the online spread of information, Hodson is interested in learning more about the human side of the equation.

She not only wants to know what makes us believe falsehoods, but what drives us to share them offline as well.

“People are sharing things to try and connect with their loved ones, or they’re sharing things that they think might protect their family or bring them close to friends,” she says. “That relational element is something an algorithm just can’t capture.”

Since the beginning of the pandemic, there’s been a tremendous amount of misinformation about the virus, from bogus cures to conspiracy theories to claims it doesn’t actually exist.

Amplified and shared across the globe, these pieces of misinformation can have catastrophic consequences, Hodson says.

“If we don’t get the science out there to people, then we might kill ourselves. Now with COVID, we can see that quite literally.”