People who rely on social media for updates and information during a fast-moving crisis get more conflicting information and feel more stress than those who rely on communications from officials and traditional media, finds a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers surveyed almost 3,900 university students one week after the students’ school was put on a two-hour lockdown because of an active shooter on campus. They found that the students who relied most on texts and social media updates from unofficial sources encountered more misinformation and felt more anxiety during the lockdown. Students who generally trusted information on social media felt the most stress. (Monitor on Psychology)

Susie Bean Gives