The Razor's Edge of the News Malfunction in Cyberspace: The Narrative of the Yazdian Youth about the Spread of Rumors in Cyberspace

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
SeyedHesam Gheblezade 1
SeyedAlireza Afshani 2
Hossein Eslami 1
1 Yazd Islamic Azad University, Yazd
2 Social Welfare Department, Social Sciences Faculty, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran
10.22054/nms.2022.57213.1096
Abstract
Rumor and its impact on human social life have always been important. In recent years, with the expansion of cyberspace, the conditions for spreading rumors have been facilitated. This study has analyzed the narrative of the Yazdian youth from the prevalence of rumors in cyberspace. This study was qualitative research and performed according to grounded theory. The participants were the youth of Yazd, 24 of them were purposefully selected and studied through interviews, and open, axial, and selective coding was used to analyze them. Based on interviews with young people, 43 concepts, 20 first categories, 14-second categories, 5 core categories (rumor prevalence, rumor belief, rumor credibility, rumor enhancement, and rumor attenuation), and the phenomenon of "The razor's edge of the news malfunction in cyberspace" is constructed. It turned out that shows paradoxical space and so-called two edges of function and malfunction information in cyberspace. The results showed the negative view of young people on cyberspace and news published in this context, and the best way to reduce the impact of rumors and their dissemination is to inform and promote media literacy of the audience.
Keywords
Rumor
Cyberspace
Youth
News
Credibility
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New Media Studies
Volume 8, Issue 32
Winter 2023
Pages 450-419