{"id":"https://openalex.org/W4413806553","doi":"https://doi.org/10.3390/info16090748","title":"Mapping the Infodemic: Geolocating Reddit Users and Unsupervised Topic Modeling of COVID-19-Related Misinformation","display_name":"Mapping the Infodemic: Geolocating Reddit Users and Unsupervised Topic Modeling of COVID-19-Related Misinformation","publication_year":2025,"publication_date":"2025-08-28","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W4413806553","doi":"https://doi.org/10.3390/info16090748"},"language":"en","primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.3390/info16090748","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.3390/info16090748","pdf_url":"https://www.mdpi.com/2078-2489/16/9/748/pdf?version=1756448154","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4210219776","display_name":"Information","issn_l":"2078-2489","issn":["2078-2489"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":true,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310310987","host_organization_name":"Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310310987"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Information","raw_type":"journal-article"},"type":"article","indexed_in":["crossref","doaj"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"gold","oa_url":"https://www.mdpi.com/2078-2489/16/9/748/pdf?version=1756448154","any_repository_has_fulltext":true},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5119468808","display_name":"Lulu Alarfaj","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I123946342","display_name":"Binghamton University","ror":"https://ror.org/008rmbt77","country_code":"US","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I123946342"]}],"countries":["US"],"is_corresponding":true,"raw_author_name":"Lulu Alarfaj","raw_affiliation_strings":["Department of System Science and Industrial Engineering, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY 13902, USA"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0002-7026-4354","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Department of System Science and Industrial Engineering, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY 13902, USA","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I123946342"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5052381671","display_name":"Jeremy Blackburn","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4223-1304"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I123946342","display_name":"Binghamton University","ror":"https://ror.org/008rmbt77","country_code":"US","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I123946342"]}],"countries":["US"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Jeremy Blackburn","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Computing, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY 13902, USA"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Computing, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY 13902, USA","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I123946342"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5053341056","display_name":"Maaz Amjad","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5969-9085"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I12315562","display_name":"Texas Tech University","ror":"https://ror.org/0405mnx93","country_code":"US","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I12315562"]}],"countries":["US"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Maaz Amjad","raw_affiliation_strings":["Department of Computer Science, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5969-9085","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Department of Computer Science, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I12315562"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5101684321","display_name":"Jay Patel","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0811-3977"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I123946342","display_name":"Binghamton University","ror":"https://ror.org/008rmbt77","country_code":"US","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I123946342"]}],"countries":["US"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Jay Patel","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Computing, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY 13902, USA"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Computing, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY 13902, USA","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I123946342"]}]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5022420104","display_name":"Zeynep Ertem","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0632-0905"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I123946342","display_name":"Binghamton University","ror":"https://ror.org/008rmbt77","country_code":"US","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I123946342"]}],"countries":["US"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Zeynep Ertem","raw_affiliation_strings":["Department of System Science and Industrial Engineering, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY 13902, USA"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Department of System Science and Industrial Engineering, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY 13902, USA","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I123946342"]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":1,"institutions_distinct_count":2,"corresponding_author_ids":["https://openalex.org/A5119468808"],"corresponding_institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I123946342"],"apc_list":{"value":1400,"currency":"CHF","value_usd":1515},"apc_paid":{"value":1400,"currency":"CHF","value_usd":1515},"fwci":2.5663,"has_fulltext":true,"cited_by_count":1,"citation_normalized_percentile":{"value":0.904779,"is_in_top_1_percent":false,"is_in_top_10_percent":true},"cited_by_percentile_year":{"min":94,"max":97},"biblio":{"volume":"16","issue":"9","first_page":"748","last_page":"748"},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11147","display_name":"Misinformation and Its Impacts","score":1.0,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/3312","display_name":"Sociology and Political Science"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/33","display_name":"Social Sciences"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/2","display_name":"Social Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11147","display_name":"Misinformation and Its Impacts","score":1.0,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/3312","display_name":"Sociology and Political Science"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/33","display_name":"Social Sciences"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/2","display_name":"Social Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10833","display_name":"Vaccine Coverage and Hesitancy","score":0.9932000041007996,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/3306","display_name":"Health"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/33","display_name":"Social Sciences"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/2","display_name":"Social Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T13718","display_name":"Media Influence and Politics","score":0.9818999767303467,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/3312","display_name":"Sociology and Political Science"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/33","display_name":"Social Sciences"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/2","display_name":"Social Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/misinformation","display_name":"Misinformation","score":0.882599949836731},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/topic-model","display_name":"Topic model","score":0.5683000087738037},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/coronavirus-disease-2019","display_name":"Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)","score":0.5631250143051147},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/geolocation","display_name":"Geolocation","score":0.5427153706550598},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/computer-science","display_name":"Computer science","score":0.5157601833343506},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/pandemic","display_name":"Pandemic","score":0.45520666241645813},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/skepticism","display_name":"Skepticism","score":0.439581960439682},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/latent-dirichlet-allocation","display_name":"Latent Dirichlet allocation","score":0.4281783103942871},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/tracking","display_name":"Tracking (education)","score":0.4102499485015869},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/internet-privacy","display_name":"Internet privacy","score":0.40041664242744446},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/data-science","display_name":"Data science","score":0.35366708040237427},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/psychology","display_name":"Psychology","score":0.33914610743522644},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/information-retrieval","display_name":"Information retrieval","score":0.2863541543483734},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/world-wide-web","display_name":"World Wide Web","score":0.2749621868133545},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/medicine","display_name":"Medicine","score":0.21528935432434082},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/computer-security","display_name":"Computer security","score":0.10878914594650269}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2776990098","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q13579947","display_name":"Misinformation","level":2,"score":0.882599949836731},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C171686336","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3532085","display_name":"Topic model","level":2,"score":0.5683000087738037},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C3008058167","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q84263196","display_name":"Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)","level":4,"score":0.5631250143051147},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C22041718","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q638949","display_name":"Geolocation","level":2,"score":0.5427153706550598},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.5157601833343506},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C89623803","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12184","display_name":"Pandemic","level":5,"score":0.45520666241645813},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C18296254","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1395219","display_name":"Skepticism","level":2,"score":0.439581960439682},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C500882744","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q269236","display_name":"Latent Dirichlet allocation","level":3,"score":0.4281783103942871},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2775936607","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q466845","display_name":"Tracking (education)","level":2,"score":0.4102499485015869},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C108827166","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q175975","display_name":"Internet privacy","level":1,"score":0.40041664242744446},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2522767166","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2374463","display_name":"Data science","level":1,"score":0.35366708040237427},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C15744967","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9418","display_name":"Psychology","level":0,"score":0.33914610743522644},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C23123220","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q816826","display_name":"Information retrieval","level":1,"score":0.2863541543483734},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C136764020","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q466","display_name":"World Wide Web","level":1,"score":0.2749621868133545},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C71924100","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11190","display_name":"Medicine","level":0,"score":0.21528935432434082},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C38652104","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3510521","display_name":"Computer security","level":1,"score":0.10878914594650269},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C142724271","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7208","display_name":"Pathology","level":1,"score":0.0},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C19417346","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7922","display_name":"Pedagogy","level":1,"score":0.0},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C138885662","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5891","display_name":"Philosophy","level":0,"score":0.0},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C111472728","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9471","display_name":"Epistemology","level":1,"score":0.0},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2779134260","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12136","display_name":"Disease","level":2,"score":0.0},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C524204448","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q788926","display_name":"Infectious disease (medical specialty)","level":3,"score":0.0}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":3,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.3390/info16090748","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.3390/info16090748","pdf_url":"https://www.mdpi.com/2078-2489/16/9/748/pdf?version=1756448154","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4210219776","display_name":"Information","issn_l":"2078-2489","issn":["2078-2489"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":true,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310310987","host_organization_name":"Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310310987"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Information","raw_type":"journal-article"},{"id":"pmh:oai:ttu-ir.tdl.org:2346/103921","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/2346/103921","pdf_url":"https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/bitstreams/4b297a6e-fa50-497c-a0d6-faf8fcc8458f/download","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306402519","display_name":"ThinkTech (Texas Tech University)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I12315562","host_organization_name":"Texas Tech University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I12315562"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"submittedVersion","is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"Article"},{"id":"pmh:oai:doaj.org/article:a38f74e1ef974be4b2572c764e2c79e1","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doaj.org/article/a38f74e1ef974be4b2572c764e2c79e1","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306401280","display_name":"DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":null,"host_organization_name":null,"host_organization_lineage":[],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by-sa","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by-sa","version":"submittedVersion","is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":"Information, Vol 16, Iss 9, p 748 (2025)","raw_type":"article"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"doi:10.3390/info16090748","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.3390/info16090748","pdf_url":"https://www.mdpi.com/2078-2489/16/9/748/pdf?version=1756448154","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4210219776","display_name":"Information","issn_l":"2078-2489","issn":["2078-2489"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":true,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310310987","host_organization_name":"Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310310987"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Information","raw_type":"journal-article"},"sustainable_development_goals":[],"awards":[],"funders":[],"has_content":{"grobid_xml":true,"pdf":true},"content_urls":{"pdf":"https://content.openalex.org/works/W4413806553.pdf","grobid_xml":"https://content.openalex.org/works/W4413806553.grobid-xml"},"referenced_works_count":22,"referenced_works":["https://openalex.org/W2788235048","https://openalex.org/W3011345566","https://openalex.org/W3021935553","https://openalex.org/W3036840722","https://openalex.org/W3048848247","https://openalex.org/W3080274575","https://openalex.org/W3084524306","https://openalex.org/W3088268279","https://openalex.org/W3098106685","https://openalex.org/W3101739755","https://openalex.org/W3112800536","https://openalex.org/W3186163009","https://openalex.org/W3194604497","https://openalex.org/W4205600978","https://openalex.org/W4229081359","https://openalex.org/W4251829904","https://openalex.org/W4281259125","https://openalex.org/W4287811140","https://openalex.org/W4292387517","https://openalex.org/W4312163596","https://openalex.org/W4366986833","https://openalex.org/W4379509237"],"related_works":["https://openalex.org/W2888805565","https://openalex.org/W4312773271","https://openalex.org/W4315588616","https://openalex.org/W2769501189","https://openalex.org/W2962686197","https://openalex.org/W2207653751","https://openalex.org/W4293863151","https://openalex.org/W3159709618","https://openalex.org/W2611137333","https://openalex.org/W3005513013"],"abstract_inverted_index":{"The":[0],"problem":[1],"of":[2,122,150,163,175,181],"geolocating":[3],"Reddit":[4],"users":[5],"without":[6],"access":[7],"to":[8],"the":[9,58,85,159,182],"author":[10],"information":[11,157],"API":[12],"is":[13],"tackled":[14],"in":[15,84,178],"this":[16],"study.":[17],"Using":[18,34],"subreddit":[19],"data,":[20],"we":[21,50],"analyzed":[22],"and":[23,44,55,71,82,95,97,104,136,146],"identified":[24],"user":[25],"location":[26],"based":[27],"on":[28,61,158],"their":[29],"interactions":[30],"within":[31],"location-specific":[32],"subreddits.":[33],"unsupervised":[35],"learning":[36],"methods":[37],"such":[38,128],"as":[39,129],"Latent":[40],"Dirichlet":[41],"Allocation":[42],"(LDA)":[43],"Non-Negative":[45],"Matrix":[46],"Factorization":[47],"(NMF)":[48],"algorithms,":[49],"examined":[51],"conversations":[52],"about":[53,75,185],"COVID-19":[54,62,86,188],"immunization":[56],"across":[57],"U.S.,":[59],"focusing":[60],"vaccination.":[63],"Our":[64,107],"topic":[65],"modeling":[66],"identifies":[67],"four":[68],"themes:":[69],"humor":[70],"sarcasm":[72],"(e.g.,":[73,79,90,101],"jokes":[74],"microchips),":[76],"conspiracy":[77],"theories":[78],"tracking":[80],"devices":[81],"microchips":[83],"vaccine),":[87],"public":[88],"skepticism":[89],"debates":[91],"over":[92],"vaccine":[93,98,144],"safety":[94],"freedom),":[96],"brand":[99],"concerns":[100],"Pfizer,":[102],"Moderna,":[103],"booster":[105],"shots).":[106],"geolocation":[108],"analysis":[109],"shows":[110],"that":[111,165],"regions":[112],"with":[113],"lower":[114],"vaccination":[115],"rates":[116],"often":[117],"exhibit":[118],"a":[119,142,147,172,187],"higher":[120],"prevalence":[121],"misinformation-labeled":[123],"comments.":[124],"For":[125],"example,":[126],"counties":[127],"Ada":[130],"County":[131,134,138],"(Idaho),":[132],"Newton":[133],"(Missouri),":[135],"Flathead":[137],"(Montana)":[139],"showed":[140],"both":[141],"low":[143],"uptake":[145],"high":[148],"rate":[149],"false":[151],"information.":[152],"This":[153],"study":[154],"provides":[155],"useful":[156],"many":[160],"different":[161,179],"examples":[162],"misinformation":[164],"are":[166],"disseminated":[167],"online.":[168],"It":[169],"gives":[170],"us":[171],"better":[173],"understanding":[174],"how":[176],"people":[177],"parts":[180],"U.S.":[183],"think":[184],"getting":[186],"vaccine.":[189]},"counts_by_year":[{"year":2026,"cited_by_count":1}],"updated_date":"2026-06-15T08:34:33.830935","created_date":"2025-10-10T00:00:00"}