Mehdi Ghane; Shadi Zabet; Mohammad Mahdi Faturehchi
Volume 19, Issue 49 , December 2020, , Pages 33-52
Abstract
Rumors have always been around in all societies and reflect the society’s anxieties, beliefs and thoughts. With the advent of information and communications technology (ICT) and its popularity, the spread of words and also rumors has become easier than ever. The youth as an important part of user ...
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Rumors have always been around in all societies and reflect the society’s anxieties, beliefs and thoughts. With the advent of information and communications technology (ICT) and its popularity, the spread of words and also rumors has become easier than ever. The youth as an important part of user of these applications, are exposed to receiving and spreading them. The study is to explore the reasons behind passing or not passing rumors by youth on all Iranian and international messaging Apps. In another words, it aims to investigate why internet users instantly share and pass a message although they know it is not valid, trustworthy or well-grounded. The study is a qualitative research and the statistical population is based on all different kinds of mobile phone messaging application users. 22 young people were chosen as samples (subjects) for the semi-structured interview with snowball sampling method. Analyzing the research results revealed that they share rumors as a way to asset their existence and draw attention to themselves. They have an instrumental use of rumor to open the dialogue. Also, they pass or post a message to communicate and feel connected and valuable and helpful. These are the main reasons which encourage them to spread rumors on messaging apps on mobile phones. Therefore, the youth use IM to meet their needs in the social context. Increasing critical thinking and developing media literacy through workshops for young people and supporting NGO's projects can be an effective way to cease the spreading rumors.
