analyzing the semantic and sociolinguistic patterns of rumor in the iranian context: a content analysis of social media rumors

Rumors as archaic forms of communication emerge in uncertain and threatening situations. they can provide insights into people’s underlying perceptions and anxieties in society. despite their significance, few, if any, studies addressed rumors in the iranian context. accordingly, the present study analyzed 407 rumors collected from iranian social media to investigate their primary motivations, subjects, and supported and targeted groups. the results of content analysis revealed that two new types of rumors were found specific to the iranian context, in addition to hostility, fear, hope, and curiosity advocated by knapp (1944) and allport and postman (1947b). the &support& rumors supported a particular entity, and &us vs. them& rumors combined support and hostility motivations. concerning the subjects of rumors, 7 overarching subjects were detected: politics, religion, people, culture, quality of life, events, and terrorism. the results also revealed that hostility was the most common motivation for rumor-mongering. the prominent supported and targeted groups of rumors were islam and the islamic republic of iran, respectively. based on the present study’s findings, it seems that the type and frequency of the rumor motivation may vary in terms of context and society in which rumors pass along. several implications and contributions are discussed in detail.

analyzing the semantic and sociolinguistic patterns of rumor in the iranian context: a content analysis of social media rumors

rumors as archaic forms of communication emerge in uncertain and threatening situations. they can provide insights into people’s underlying perceptions and anxieties in society. despite their significance, few, if any, studies addressed rumors in the iranian context. accordingly, the present study analyzed 407 rumors collected from iranian social media to investigate their primary motivations, subjects, and supported and targeted groups. the results of content analysis revealed that two new types of rumors were found specific to the iranian context, in addition to hostility, fear, hope, and curiosity advocated by knapp (1944) and allport and postman (1947b). the &support& rumors supported a particular entity, and &us vs. them& rumors combined support and hostility motivations. concerning the subjects of rumors, 7 overarching subjects were detected: politics, religion, people, culture, quality of life, events, and terrorism. the results also revealed that hostility was the most common motivation for rumor-mongering. the prominent supported and targeted groups of rumors were islam and the islamic republic of iran, respectively. based on the present study’s findings, it seems that the type and frequency of the rumor motivation may vary in terms of context and society in which rumors pass along. several implications and contributions are discussed in detail.