Wenbo Li examines how fear impacts science communication and the role of social media. Host Heather Lynch and Li, an assistant professor in the School of Communication and Journalism at Stony Brook University, discuss risk communication and its challenges, particularly in the context of climate change and social media. Li explains how cultural factors influence risk perception and the importance of building trust between scientists and the public, including young people who are engaging with misinformation on social media. 

Learn more with:

• “Dynamic Fear in Fear Appeals: Applying Fear Appeals to Environmental Communication in China” by Ruobing Li, Wenbo Li, Christine Gilbert, Xia Zheng, Laura Lindenfeld Sher

• “Bridging the Knowledge Gap in Artificial Intelligence: The Roles of Social Media Exposure and Information Elaboration” by Wenbo Li, Xia Zheng, et al.

• “The good, the bad, and the self on social media: how self-awareness and self-esteem influence selective exposure to social comparisons” by Wenbo Li, et al.
• Media literacy interventions: meta-analytic review of 40 years of research by Hyunyi Cho, Christopher Carpenter, and Wenbo Li
• Social Media Literacy: A Conceptual Framework by Hyunyi Cho, Julie Cannon, Rachel Lopez, and Wenbo Li

Skip ahead to the chapter that interests you:

• 00:00 Introduction to Risk Communication

• 01:53 Exploring the Knowledge Gap Hypothesis

• 05:49 Fear Appeals in Climate Communication

• 10:48 The Role of Fatalism in Public Health

• 17:22 Social Media and Adolescent Well-being

• 20:56 Scientists Building Trust on Social Media

• 28:07 Trust in AI and Emerging Technologies

• 32:54 Conclusion and Future Research Directions

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C4E Presents is a production of Stony Brook’s Collaborative for the Earth.

Host: Heather Lynch

Editor: J.D. Allen

Producer: Rachel Lea 

Program manager: Jennifer Gilday