A survey on the media and information literacy of the Icelandic public regarding COVID-19

This essay details the results of my research into the Icelandic public’s awareness of misinformation about COVID-19. This research project was carried out between January and August of 2022. A web survey was designed and sent out to Icelandic young adults between the ages of 18 and 35, which asked about the sources they use to locate information about COVID-19. This web survey also contained questions about the following: Which sources the respondents considered the most useful and the most reliable, the extent of misinformation about COVID-19, and how personally confident they were in their ability to avoid misinformation. The survey reached a total of 70 respondents, 20% of whom fell outside of the intended age range. The results indicate that the most popular sources are ones which are both convenient and official. Respondents did consider official sources far more reliable, but some of the sources were not very accessible. Unofficial sources that were highly convenient such as the news and social media sites saw moderate use. The respondents were reasonably aware of which sources to make the most use of. On average, respondents’ reliability ratings were similar to what theories about information seeking behavior would predict. Several respondents also left comments at the end of the survey pointing out several flaws they saw in how institutions and people responded to the pandemic. The findings are positive when taken as a whole. The majority of Icelandic young adults demonstrate moderate to high awareness of COVID-19 misinformation and an understanding of how to handle the pandemic. Trust in official health institutions is high and the respondents make full use of the resources provided by health authorities