Rumors affect social order. Nearly 70% of the respondents expect to establish a rumor system.

　　With the development of Internet and self-media, the spread of rumors is accelerating. In the process of preventing and controlling the epidemic in COVID-19, various rumors emerged one after another, which had a great impact on social order.

　　Recently, wenjuan.com, the Social Investigation Center of China Youth Newspaper, conducted a survey on 2003 respondents, showing that 66.2% of the respondents admitted that they had been recruited by rumors. 73.5% of the respondents believe that rumors will disrupt social order. 69.0% of the respondents suggested establishing a rumor system to update the rumor information in time.

　　Among the respondents, 4.2% were born after 00, 28.9% after 90, 46.9% after 80, 15.3% after 70 and 4.1% after 60. Men account for 44.1% and women account for 55.9%.

　　66.2% of respondents admitted that they had been recruited by rumors.

　　Liu Wen (pseudonym), 27, works in Tianjin. During this time, she saw many so-called ways to prevent COVID-19, such as gargling with salt water, drinking alcohol and smoking vinegar, and many of them were later identified as rumors. "Some rumors can be judged according to common sense, while others need more information to distinguish them."

　　Liu Wen said that with the development and changes of the epidemic, she recently noticed some rumors about the epidemic cases, "for example, where there are clustered cases, or where there are cases in the area where she lives." However, I usually take the official information as the standard. "

　　In the survey, 66.2% of the respondents admitted that they had been recruited by rumors. 14.0% of the respondents feel that they have a strong ability to identify rumors, 63.2% feel strong, 22.1% feel not strong, and 0.8% of the respondents frankly have no.

　　Yang Binyan, an associate researcher at the Institute of Journalism and Communication of China Academy of Social Sciences, said that at present, people’s demand for information has increased dramatically, and they will constantly check and collect relevant information. Because of the worries and fears about the epidemic, people are more likely to believe rumors. In addition, in the era of mass communication, sudden emergencies have greatly aroused the information exchange and communication behavior of ordinary people and various subjects. "The amount of information is huge, and the subjects of voice are diverse, so people often feel that the information is difficult to distinguish between true and false".

　　69.0% of the respondents suggested establishing a rumor system to update the rumor information in time.

　　"Rumors like a ‘ Information virus ’ People who lack the ability to distinguish may be recruited. Rumors may also have a diffusion effect and must be blocked in time. " Tian Rui, a post-95 girl who lives in Beijing, said.

　　Regarding the possible impact of rumors, in the survey, 73.5% of the respondents thought it would disrupt social order, 68.4% thought it would spread negative emotions and 63.7% thought it would aggravate social panic.

　　"Although said ‘ Spread rumors, open your mouth and break your leg ’ However, if the rumor information is not spread in time, it will only increase the harm of rumors. " Tian Rui feels that it is very important to dispel rumors and block the spread of rumors in time.

　　To reduce the harm of rumors, 69.0% of the respondents suggested to establish a rumor system and update the rumor information in time, 66.8% suggested to improve the public’s media literacy and ability to identify rumors, 65.1% suggested to release authoritative news in time to let the truth run through rumors, and 54.5% suggested to increase the punishment for rumors and increase the illegal cost.

　　"The public opinion survey laboratory of China Academy of Social Sciences conducted a survey during the epidemic and came to the conclusion, ‘ The traditional mainstream media is the ballast stone of information dissemination and public opinion during the epidemic ’ 。” Yang Binyan believes that in the face of sudden public health incidents, it is the top priority of the media to conduct public communication quickly, timely, accurately, truly and scientifically, and it is the first responsibility that the media needs to bear in an emergency. The traditional mainstream media is duty-bound to undertake such tasks and missions. Under the epidemic situation, the public’s demand for news information has greatly increased, which requires orderly organization and coordination and continuous professional content production, and the advantages of traditional mainstream media are outstanding.

　　How do ordinary people deal with rumors? Yang Binyan believes that the ability to identify rumors can be improved from the following aspects: first, we should pay attention to the sources of information and obtain information from authoritative scientific information sources, such as the authoritative release of central media and central and local governments; Second, under the theme of "fighting pneumonia", some platforms have a column dedicated to "dispelling rumors", which can be used for more reference; Thirdly, it is necessary to see clearly what news is released by news media and what are the opinions and comments of netizens, including experts, celebrities, big V, online celebrity and so on, and to distinguish between "news" and "opinions".

　　Zhongqingbao Zhongqingwang reporter Sun Shan Source: China Youth Daily