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    Diffusion of COVID-19 Misinformation in Kenyan X Conversations
    (International Journal of Communication and Public Relation, 2025) Munuku, Anne W.; Ndavula, John O.
    Purpose: The study set out to explore the role of X conversations in the spread of misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya. Methodology: The study was guided by the Rumor Theory. The study adopted a descriptive survey design which allowed the researchers to collect data without interacting with participants. Data was collected from existing online records of conversations on X and other relevant websites such as the Ministry of Health. The data was sourced from hashtags and tweets related to the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya, posted in the period from March 2020 to April 2021. The hashtags and tweets were mined using the free API tool for geolocated tweets. 16 hashtags and 200 tweets were selected for the study. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics while qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis under classified themes. Findings: The findings of the study indicate that none of the hashtags created by Kenyans was framed to spread misinformation but the tweets under the different hashtags analyzed contained misinformation. Findings also indicate that verified X handles were involved in either creating or spreading COVID-19 misinformation. Additionally, false claims were found to diffuse faster than partially false claims as observed in the tweets with misinformation. Compared to a background corpus of COVID-19 tweets, tweets with misinformation were more often concerned with discrediting other information on social media. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: We recommend that the government and stakeholders in health ought to counter COVID-19 misinformation online, and equip users with basic digital literacy skills regarding consumption of online information while continuously monitoring online discourses. A policy on online health communication needs to be developed and implemented.
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    Importance of the Neutral Category in Fuzzy Clustering of Sentiments
    (International Journal of Fuzzy Logic Systems, 2014) Nderu, Lawrence; Jouandeau, Nicolas; Akdag, Herman
    Social media is said to have an impact on the public discourse and communication in the society. It is increasingly being used in the political context. Social networks sites such as Facebook, Twitter and other microblogging services provide an opportunity for public to give opinions about some issues of interest. Twitter is an ideal platform for users to spread not only information in general but also political opinions, whereas Facebook provides the capability for direct dialogs. A lot of studies have shown that a need exists for stakeholders to collect, monitor, analyze, summarize and visualize these social media views. Some authors have tended to categorize these comments as either positive or negative ignoring the neutral category. In this paper, we demonstrate the importance of the neutral category in the clustering of sentiments from the social media. We then demonstrate the use of fuzzy clustering for this kind of task.
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    The Moderating Effect of Social Media Usage on Online Reviews and Consumer Purchasing Intention in Kenya
    (Research Bridge Publisher, International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research, 2024) Mokua, Juniter K; Owino, Edward O
    This study examines the moderating effect of social media on online reviews and consumer purchasing intentions in Kenya. Data were collected from a convenient sample of his 304 consumers who had made previous purchases based on online reviews. The results show that online reviews have a significantly positive impact on consumer purchasing intentions. Additionally, social media platforms can positively influence consumer purchasing intention, amplifying the impact of online reviews. However, the relationship between online reviews and consumer purchasing intention has been moderated by social media, with less impact for consumers who use social media platforms more. These findings suggest that Kenyan businesses and marketers should monitor and act on online reviews on social media platforms to increase their influence on consumer purchasing intentions. Additionally, businesses should target consumers who are less likely to use social media platforms to maximize the impact of online reviews on purchasing intention.