ORCID

Yiqi Li: 0000-002-3730-5743

Marina Mitiaeva: 0009-0008-6103-485x

Ximeng Deng: 0009-0000-5983-5676

Una Joh: 0009-0002-2044-6395

Document Type

Report

Date

7-18-2025

Keywords

morality, brokerage, communication networks, misleading information

Language

English

Funder(s)

Syracuse University iSchool

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the guidance and data collection support

received from Dr. Lu Xiao, and content analysis and data cleaning

contributions from Joy Liu, Theodore Hahn, Mia Huiqian Lai,

Kishan Terdal, Alok Patnaik, Siddharth Ghanashyam Holankar,

and Ting-Yu Chen. We are also thankful for the special issue

editors, Soojong Kim, Heather J. Hether, Richard Huskey, and

anonymous reviewers’ support and valuable feedback.

Disciplines

Quantitative Psychology | Social Influence and Political Communication | Social Media | Social Psychology and Interaction

Description/Abstract

Existing misleading information studies mostly focus on either the message content or social network structures, overlooking the association between the content and structural factors. This research examines the role of brokers, the key network actors straddling between misleading and true/regular information groups. Content-wise, morality expressions are examined, which signal social media users’ expressions toward what is right and wrong. This research provides insights into the understudied relationship between network brokerage and moral expressions and identifies connections between moral foundation and network brokerage theories. Findings suggest that binding morality (i.e., authority and loyalty) is dominant among network brokers. Practical strategies are suggested toward potentially harnessing the power of brokers and moral framing to help combat the spread of misleading information.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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