Library and Information Service

Library and Information Service >

2026 , Vol. 70 >Issue 1: 69 - 81

DOI: https://doi.org/10.13266/j.issn.0252-3116.2026.01.006

RESEARCH PAPERS

A Study on the Construction of Health Misinformation Horizon Maps in the Social Media

  • Li Xinyue ,
  • Lian Jingwen ,
  • Han Wenting ,
  • Jing Yutian ,
  • Zhu Qinghua
Expand
  • 1 School of Cultural Heritage and Information Management, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444;
    2 School of Information Management, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023;
    3 School of Management Science and Engineering, Shandong University of Finance and Economics, Jinan 250014

Received date: 2024-11-08

  Revised date: 2025-01-22

  Online published: 2026-01-16

Supported by

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China project titled “Research on the Dissemination Mechanism and Collaborative Governance of Health Misinformation on Social Media”(Grant No. 72174083), the youth project of National Natural Science Foundation of China titled “Mechanism and Intervention Model of Seniors’ Health Behavior Change:From the Perspective of Data-Intelligence Empowerment”(Grant No. 72404170), and Shandong Province Social Science Planning Research Youth Project titled “Research on the Effect of Digital-Intelligence Empowered Services in Breaking the Health Information Cocoon of Seniors”(Grant No. 23DTQJ01).

Fold

Abstract

[Purpose/Significance] This study aims to construct a vivid and intuitive information horizon map by systematically analyzing user interactions with health misinformation within the social media. The objective is to gain a deeper understanding of the current landscape of health misinformation on major domestic social media platforms and to propose targeted strategies for health information governance. [Method/Process] This study employed the information horizon map, critical incident technique, and semi-structured interviews to collect and analyze user cognition and behavior data. This study examined various health misinformation types, roles, and interactions by representing the information map through a matrix. Finally, by conducting a textual analysis of the interview data, the study systematically constructed a map framework for health misinformation. [Result/Conclusion] Different social media platforms favor different health misinformation themes and types. Xiaohongshu and WeChat are platforms where health misinformation is more concentrated, with the top ten themes being health-related diets, health supplements, disease information, and more. Based on the flow characteristics of information, social media platforms can be divided into recommendation-type, balance-type, and output-type nodes, revealing the flow and radiative influence of health misinformation across different platforms. Future governance of health misinformation on social media platforms should fully consider the content and group preferences, as well as the dissemination and flow characteristics of each platform, to conduct targeted research and governance practices, thereby more effectively addressing the challenges posed by health misinformation.

Key words： social media; health misinformation; information horizon map; graphical representation; information governance

Cite this article

Li Xinyue , Lian Jingwen , Han Wenting , Jing Yutian , Zhu Qinghua . A Study on the Construction of Health Misinformation Horizon Maps in the Social Media[J]. Library and Information Service, 2026 , 70(1) : 69 -81 . DOI: 10.13266/j.issn.0252-3116.2026.01.006

References

[1] CHEN J, WANG Y. Social media use for health purposes:systematic review[J]. Journal of medical internet research, 2021,23(5):e17917.
[2] CHOU W Y S, OH A, KLEIN W M P. Addressing health-related misinformation on social media[J]. Jama, 2018, 320(23):2417-2418.
[3] WESTBERRY C, PALMER X L, POTTER L. Social media and health misinformation:a literature review[C]//Proceedings of the future technologies conference. San Francisco, US:Springer Nature, 2023:404-418.
[4] NOROOZI M, FAVARO P. Unsupervised learning of visual representations by solving jigsaw puzzles[C]//European conference on computer vision. Cham:Springer International Publishing, 2016:69-84.
[5] 抖音安全中心. 2023年第一季度安全透明度报告[EB/OL].[2024-12-30]. https://www.douyin.com/video/7236945728096963880.(Douyin Security Centre. Q1 2023Security transparency report[EB/OL].[2024-12-30]. https://www.douyin.com/video/7236945728096963880.)
[6] 李月琳,张秀,王姗姗.社交媒体健康信息质量研究:基于真伪健康信息特征的分析[J].情报学报, 2018, 37(3):294-304.(LI Y L, ZHANG X, WANG S S. Health information quality in social media:an analysis based on the features of real and fake health information[J]. Journal of the China Society for Scientific and Technical Information, 2018, 37(3):294-304.)
[7] 薛翔,马海云,赵宇翔,等.失真健康信息特征对社交媒体用户分享意愿影响机制研究[J].图书情报工作, 2024, 68(4):70-82.(XUE X, MA H Y, ZHAO Y X,et al. Investigating the influence of health misinformation features on users'sharing willingness in social media[J]. Library and information service,2024, 68(4):70-82.)
[8] TANG L, FUJIMOTO K, AMITH M, et al. "Down the rabbit hole" of vaccine misinformation on YouTube:network exposure study[J]. Journal of medical internet research, 2021, 23(1):e2326.
[9] 付少雄,成琦,杨帆,等.多重风险视角下虚假健康短视频的用户分享意愿实验研究[J].现代情报, 2024, 44(11):67-79.(FU S X, CHENG Q, YANG F, et al. Experimental research on users'willingness to share false health short videos from the perspective of multiple risk[J]. Journal of modern information,2024, 44(11):67-79.)
[10] BAUTISTA J R, ZHANG Y, GWIZDKA J. Healthcare professionals'acts of correcting health misinformation on social media[J]. International journal of medical informatics, 2021, 148:104375.
[11] 李新月,宋士杰,韩文婷,等.失真健康信息预先干预对个体感知与行为意愿影响的实证研究[J].信息资源管理学报, 2024,14(1):44-54.(LI X Y, SONG S J, HAN W T, et al. An empirical study of the effects of a prebunking of health misinformation individuals'perceptions and behavioral intentions[J]. Journal of information resources management, 2024, 14(1):44-54.)
[12] 阮智慧,朱欣叶,卓扬凯,等.奖惩机制下微信虚假健康信息治理的三方演化博弈分析[J].北京邮电大学学报(社会科学版), 2024, 26(3):46-55.(RUAN Z H, ZHU X Y, ZHUO Y K, et al. Trilateral evolutionary game analysis of WeChat false health information governance under reward and punishment mechanism[J]. Journal of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (social sciences edition), 2024, 26(3):46-55.)
[13] YEUNGA W K, TOSEVSKA A, KLAGER E, et al. Medical and health-related misinformation on social media:bibliometric study of the scientific literature[J]. Journal of medical internet research,2022, 24(1):e28152.
[14] 喻梅,余诗雅,刘蕤.医护人员的社交媒体虚假健康信息纠正意图研究--基于SEM与fsQCA方法[J].信息资源管理学报, 2024, 14(3):104-120.(YU M, YU S Y, LIU R.Exploring the cognitive factors of healthcare professionals'health misinformation correcting intention on social media using SEM and fsQCA[J]. Journal of information resources management,2024, 14(3):104-120.)
[15] LI X, LIU M, LIAN J, et al. Nudging away health misinformation on social media:the roles of social influences and power distance[C]//Wisdom, Well-Being, Win-Win, 19th International Conference, iConference 2024 Proceedings Part II, Springer,2024:268-279.
[16] SICILIA R, GIUDICE S L, PEI Y, et al. Health-related rumor detection on Twitter[C]//2017 IEEE international conference on bioinformatics and biomedicine. Kansas City, MO, USA:IEEE,2017:1599-1606.
[17] HARTEL J K. Managing documents at home for serious leisure:a case study of the hobby of gourmet cooking[J]. Journal of documentation, 2010, 66(6):847-874.
[18] HARTEL J K. Information activities, resources, and spaces in the hobby of gourmet cooking[M]. Los Angeles:University of California, 2007.
[19] GENUISS K. Navigating uncertain health information:implications for decision making[J]. Proceedings of the American society for information science and technology, 2010, 47(1):1-2.
[20] SONNENWALD D H. Evolving perspectives of human information behavior:contexts, situations, social networks and information horizons[M]//London:Taylor Graham, 1999:176-190.
[21] VRAGA E K, BODE L. Using expert sources to correct health misinformation in social media[J]. Science communication,2017, 39(5):621-645.
[22] BRADY J T, KELLY M E, STEIN S L. The trump effect:with no peer review, how do we know what to really believe on social media?[J]. Clinics in colon and rectal surgery, 2017, 30(4):270-276.
[23] 莫祖英,盘大清.信息茧房效应对用户虚假信息识别能力的影响关系探析[J].图书馆学研究, 2023(3):50-57.(MO Z Y,PAN D Q. An analysis of the influence of information cocoons on users'ability to identify false information[J]. Research on library science, 2023(3):50-57.)
[24] 宋士杰,赵宇翔,朱庆华.社交媒体中失真健康信息的传播、识别与纠偏研究[J].情报杂志, 2023, 42(6):162-169.(SONG S J, ZHAO Y X, ZHU Q H. A comprehensive review on health misinformation dissemination, identification and correction in social media[J]. Journal of intelligence, 2023, 42(6):162-169.)
[25] LI Y J, CHEUNG C M K, SHEN X L, et al. When socialization goes wrong:understanding the we-intention to participate in collective trolling in virtual communities[J]. Journal of the association of information systems, 2022, 23(3):678-706.
[26] ZHANG S, MA F, LIU Y, et al. Identifying features of health misinformation on social media sites:an exploratory analysis[J].Library hi tech, 2022, 40(5):1384-1401.
[27] PENG W, LIM S, MENG J. Persuasive strategies in online health misinformation:a systematic review[J]. Information,communication&society, 2023, 26(11):2131-2148.
[28] SUAREZ-LLEDO V, ALVAREZ-GALVEZ J. Prevalence of health misinformation on social media:systematic review[J].Journal of medical Internet research, 2021, 23(1):e17187.
[29] LI Y J, MARGA J J, CHEUNG C M K, et al. Health misinformation on social media:a systematic literature review and future research directions[J]. AIS transactions on humancomputer interaction, 2022, 14(2):116-149.
[30] 张帅.社交媒体虚假健康信息特征识别[J].图书情报工作,2021, 65(9):70-78.(ZHANG S. Study on feature identification of false health information on social media[J]. Library and information service, 2021, 65(9):70-78.)
[31] TANG H, LENZINI G, GREIFF S, et al. "Who knows?Maybe it really works": analysing users'perceptions of health misinformation on social media[C]//Proceedings of the 2024ACM designing interactive systems conference. New York, US:association for computing machinery, 2024:1499-1517.
[32] REXHEPI H, HUVILA I,ÅHLFELDT R M, et al. Cancer patients'information seeking behavior related to online electronic healthcare records[J]. Health informatics journal, 2021, 27(3):14604582211024708.
[33] SINN D, KIM S, SYN S Y. Information activities within information horizons:a case for college students'personal information management[J]. Library&information science research, 2019, 41(1):19-30.
[34] GREYSON D, O'BRIEN H, SHOVELLER J. Information world mapping:a participatory arts-based elicitation method for information behavior interviews[J]. Library&information science research, 2017, 39(2):149-157.
[35] BRESSEL P, DEWITZ L, GREIFENEDER E. Exploring information behavior patterns in response to false and misleading health information[J]. Proceedings of the association for information science and technology, 2023, 60(1):73-85.
[36] HARTEL J. Information behavior, visual research, and the information horizon interview:Three ways[EB/OL].[2025-03-18]. https://informationr.net/ir/22-1/colis/colis1635.html
[37] 周文杰,闫慧,韩圣龙.基于信息源视野理论的信息贫富分化研究[J].中国图书馆学报, 2015, 41(1):50-61.(ZHOU W J, YAN H, HAN S L. Exploring information divide based on a theoretical view of information source horizon[J]. Journal of library science in China, 2015, 41(1):50-61.)
[38] HUVILA I. Analytical information horizon maps[J]. Library&information science research, 2009, 31(1):18-28.
[39] QUEST MOBILE. 2025年新媒体生态洞察[EB/OL].[2025-12-16]. https://www.questmobile.com.cn/research/report/2000767092954075138.(QUEST MOBILE. New media ecosystem insights 2025[EB/OL].[2025-12-16]. https://www.questmobile.com.cn/research/report/2000767092954075138.)
[40] 薛翔,赵宇翔.音乐平台中音乐分类体系的用户心智模型研究--以高校学生群体为例[J].数据分析与知识发现, 2019,3(2):1-12.(XUE X, ZHAO Y X. Exploring user mental models of online music classification system:case study of college students[J]. Data analysis and knowledge discovery, 2019, 3(2):1-12.)
[41] ZIMMERMAN M S. Information horizons mapping to assess the health literacy of refugee and immigrant women[J]. Proceedings of the association for information science and technology, 2018,55(1):963-964.
[42] 毕崇武,张燕婷,金燕,等.信息链视角下用户参与在线健康信息质量治理的三方演化博弈分析[J].现代情报, 2024,44(6):45-58.(BI C W, ZHANG Y T, JIN Y, SUN Z. Tripartite evolutionary game analysis of user participation in online health information quality governance from the perspective of information chain[J]. Journal of modern information, 2024,44(6):45-58.)
[43] 程思宇,阮建海,邓小昭.用户生成内容(UGC)平台用户数字囤积行为影响因素研究--以小红书为例[J].图书情报工作, 2024, 68(4):58-69.(CHEN S Y, RUAN J H,DENG X Z. Research on influencing factors of users'digital hoarding behavior on user-generated content platforms:taking Xiaohongshu as an Example[J]. Library and information science,2024, 68(4):58-69.)
[44] STUIFBERGEN M C, VAN DELDEN J J M, DYKSTRA P A.The implications of today's family structures for support giving to older parents[J]. Ageing&society, 2008, 28(3):413-434.
[45] 孙丽哲.小红书用户健康信息采纳行为影响因素研究[D].保定:河北大学, 2024.(SUN L Z. Research on the factors influencing the adoption behavior of health information among users of Xiaohongshu platforms[D]. Baoding:Hebei University,2024.)
[46] ANDİS, AKESSON J. Nudging away false news:evidence from a social norms experiment[J]. Digital journalism, 2020, 9(1):106-125.
[47] 倪珍妮,王淳洋,司湘云.社会网络视角下在线健康社区知识共享与虚假信息传播差异分析[J].情报理论与实践,2023, 46(7):67-75.(NI Z N, WANG C Y, SI X Y. Analysis of the differences between knowledge sharing and misinformation spreading in online health communities from a social network perspective[J]. Information studies theories&adoption, 2023,46(7):67-75.)
Options
Outlines

/

〈 〉

    Copyrights © LIS Press Co., Ltd. Reproduction is prohibited without permission.