The Impact of Maps on Climate Information Communication: An Empirical User Study on Social Media Trustworthiness

Maps play a key role in bringing climate science closer to different audiences.They can attract readers and make climate change tangible (Fish, 2020).Since maps are effective means for communicating complex information, they also have the power to persuade readers (Deitrick & Edsall, 2009).Previous research has discussed about how cartographers can ensure and/or enhance the trustworthiness on maps (Gartner, 2023).However, these studies predominantly examine maps independently of other media influences.Little research has assessed the trustworthiness of social media posts involving maps.Relying on the confirmation bias of their readers, maps can be taken out of context and used alongside false information to convey messages from climate denialists (Fish & Kreitzberg, 2023).Research shows that people rarely engage in effortful information evaluation tasks with their full mental capacities (Metzger & Flanagin, 2013).They likely develop quick strategies for assessing credibility.According to the Limited Capacity Model (Lang, 2000) of message processing, people rarely process all aspects of information they receive online.Instead, they select only some salient features to encode, store, and retrieve.When people assess credibility online, Prominence-Interpretation Theory (Fogg, 2003) suggests that two things happen.First, user notices something (i.e., prominence).Second, user makes a judgment about it (i.e., interpretation).