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Co-Inform Plugin: Citizens engage and interact with the tool in evaluation study

Authors: Christiana Varda and Dr. Eleni A. Kyza. Media, Cognition and Learning Research Group, Department of Communication and Internet Studies at the Cyprus University of Technology

 

During December 2020 and January 2021 we carried out a round of evaluations for the Co-Inform plugin which was developed to aid citizens’ information evaluation practices during their day-to-day encounters with information on Twitter. The evaluation study took place across four countries: Austria, Cyprus, Greece and Sweden. A total of 80 participants took part in individual hour-long sessions and the data collected is currently being analysed. 

Citizens’ Plugin: A Project Milestone 

The evaluation sessions are an important milestone for the project because they mark the culmination of months of collaborative work between technical partners and social scientists. 

The evaluation study conducted across four different European countries will allow us to evaluate the extent to which the tool we have developed is effective in nurturing misinformation-resistant behaviors on social media, but also to examine other factors, such as the cultural context or individual traits, that could mediate these behaviours. Findings from the studies will also inform the finalized version of the Co-Inform plugin, since feedback on participants’ interactions with the tool and its usability will be collated and discussed within our technical team.

Future steps

This evaluation study is the first of three; follow-up studies focusing on journalists and policymakers will also take place between February and April 2021. These will focus on the evaluation of the Co-Inform dashboard, which has been developed to meet the needs and requirements provided by these stakeholder groups during the first Co-Creation workshop. 

Co-Inform’s mission is to foster critical thinking and digital literacy.

Academic surveys have shown that online misinformation is becoming more difficult to identify. Online misinformation has the potential to deceive even readers with strong literacy skills. Our goal is to provide citizens, journalists, and policymakers with tools to spot ‘fake news’ online, understand how they spread, and obtain access to verified information.

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Co-Inform Copyright 2021
Disclaimer

Co-inform project is co-funded by Horizon 2020 – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2014-2020)
H2020-SC6-CO-CREATION-2016-2017 (CO-CREATION FOR GROWTH AND INCLUSION)
Type of action: RIA (Research and Innovation action)
Proposal number: 770302

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