Coronavirus: Why we need to be careful on WhatsApp!

Why is WhatsApp currently so dangerous when it comes to false reports? Let’s look at the character of the messenger itself and the “leap of trust” that senders enjoy there.

WhatsApp is currently the most used messenger in Germany and Austria [ 1 ][ 2 ]. This not only applies across all age groups, but WhatsApp is the most popular social media platform, especially in the 50+ age group.

According to an ARD-ZDF online study, 54% of people aged 50-69 use WhatsApp daily, and even 22% of people over 70 look at Messenger every day [3].

From this you can clearly see that you can reach a particularly large number of people via Messenger, but you have to pull the right levers so that content on WhatsApp goes viral and is forwarded as often as possible.

WhatsApp trick: confidentiality!

One of these tricks is confidentiality, which is ideally tailored to the messenger. Basically, you can see that information received via WhatsApp has a level of trust because you know the sender of the message.

It is usually a person who you have saved in the phone book and who you have met before. So when you know a piece of information, you not only see a face in front of your eyes, but also a voice in your ear that reads the message.

This is also linked to the trust that this person enjoys. This trust also extends to the content, as you do not primarily assume that the person you trust is trying to lie to you.

But it is precisely at this point that caution is advised, because chain letters or voice messages in particular contain content that has already been forwarded by the sender and may not have been checked at all, but was also accepted on the basis of trust.

And that's exactly what many chain letters and voice messages rely on. You claim right at the beginning that the information comes from a trusted person (boyfriend/girlfriend) who is in an important position (hospital/ministry/police/etc.).

Even though you don't know this person, this supposed confidentiality creates a bond and at the same time a self-legitimization of the information takes place.

It is therefore all the more important at this point to check this information. It's not about a breach of trust with the sender himself, but simply about the information sent.

WhatsApp as a closed medium

Another special feature is closed communication in messengers such as WhatsApp. On Twitter or Facebook we know that postings are accessible to a certain public. Different people can give feedback, any false reports can be exposed in the comments or even flagged by the platform operator.

This doesn't work on WhatsApp. The communication, which is mostly 1:1, cannot be evaluated from the outside. If both conversation partners do not recognize a false report, it cannot be corrected and will be forwarded without reflection.

At this point, this means that the so-called gatekeeper function on WhatsApp (control function as to whether content is relevant or correct in order to be sent) must be taken even more seriously. This is not new and at the same time it is something we at Mimikama have been teaching for years.

So what to do?

We recommend: Be careful on WhatsApp! Many chain letters and voice messages have been designed to take advantage of the participatory cultures on WhatsApp. Your fingers are literally itching to be forwarded.

Special care is required here. It is important to question who or what is behind the message. Anonymous authors who simply make claims are not trustworthy sources. In general, you should refrain from spreading it further.

Otherwise the comparative work applies. Before you tend to want to distribute content yourself, a quick fact check is a good idea. Here it is advisable to use search engines and briefly compare who else is writing about a particular piece of information. Is it from reputable media or are sensational claims without any basis?

By the way, a good indicator of conspiracy myths is the claim that “the media” has to keep quiet about it. At this point, myths and false reports tend to expose themselves.

At the moment when a message is no longer quite as trustworthy and you can no longer be sure whether it is really true, you should refrain from spreading it further. Break the chain, as they say in chain letters.

It also makes sense to give the sender of the false report short but friendly feedback. A small, nice note like “You, what you just sent me doesn’t really fit. It would be better if you didn't forward this yourself."

It's not about starting an argument or even a religious war. Especially because WhatsApp contacts are often close confidants, friends or work colleagues. Emojis can help with communication and underline a friendly atmosphere.

Short and sweet:

Yes, WhatsApp is currently probably the largest interaction platform for false reports. This is due to confidentiality, but also the lack of options for correction.

So it remains with the participants that in the end they have to be able to expose information as false reports.

A notice!

At this point we would also like to point out our category: CORONAVIRUS 2019 nCoV ( here ), in which we list all relevant fact checks on the topic of coronavirus.

Article image WhatsApp: Shutterstock / KinkarkinPhoto / Henryk Ditze