t cht lk spread information through data , it can also help spread misinformation that threatens the good work being done in fighting COVID-19 .
Fighting misinformation
Misinformation campaigns are a big problem in the fight against the pandemic . In fact , fake news about vaccines , treatments , and preventative solutions may even be a factor driving the ever-increasing COVID-19 death numbers . While the underlying problems in the media and human psychology make fighting these misinformation campaigns difficult , Big Data has actually made a difference .
Scientists at the University of Southern California have taken to studying the spread of COVID-19 information through social media Big Data . They ’ ve set up an “ infodemic observatory ” that makes use of automated software to watch 4.7 million tweets per day . This way , they hope to better understand how fears and misinformation spread and in turn create messaging and algorithms that better flag these issues .
Big Data offers us unprecedented information on how both viruses and people work . By applying this insight to the spread of misinformation , we can devise more useful tools for promoting an informed populace . As a result , we can better prevent pandemics in the future .
The potential of data-driven health solutions
Big Data is immeasurably powerful . The solutions possible through Big Data insights include personalised care and even better methods of communication for important medical notices . But these applications of Big Data as we ’ ve seen them throughout the COVID-19 pandemic are only the beginning .
Big Data has innumerable applications in the healthcare industry . From epidemiology to patient outreach , the potential of this tool might just revolutionise healthcare on the whole .
Care professionals and data scientists can run a well-planned brainstorming session with Big Data at its core to determine all the ways Big Data can still be applied in fighting COVID-19 now and preventing pandemics in the future . p
Big Data – even in the absence of more specific data – can lead to actionable insights in the face of large-scale problems .
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