Fear Enhances the Misinformation Cascade
In 2014 when the first case of Ebola was diagnosed in the United States, a misinformation cascade rapidly started. People were spreading false information faster than the Department of Public Health was able to dispel the false information. Technology has made this misinformation cascade spread faster than ever before. Before technology, this information cascade had to be started through word of mouth but now due to social network sites such as Twitter and Facebook, the misinformation cascade was able to be started withing a few minutes. There are millions and millions of people of these social networks and once a misinformed person posts something, that misinformation can be spread through just a single click. A single false post can rapidly affect thousands withing just a few seconds. In the case of the Ebola outbreak in the US, after only a few hours people were already believing and further spreading false information such as Ebola could be transmitted through air, water, or food.
However, I believe that the rapid formation of an information cascade is not just because of these social networks, it is also to fear. The more the person is scared of an event, the more that person will believe the information. This is because it is natural human instinct to want to know more about what they fear and are more likely to believe in the misinformation and will rapidly spread this false information in hopes of helping others. The fear makes these people cling onto the false information longer and stronger.