computer science

Pheme (project)

Pheme (project) is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Pheme (project) rather than just read about it. In short: Pheme is a 36-month research project begun in 2014 into establishing the veracity of claims made on the internet. Introduction Unverified content is dominant and prolific in social media messages.

Key takeaways

Pheme (project) belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Pheme (project) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Pheme (project) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Pheme is a 36-month research project begun in 2014 into establishing the veracity of claims made on the internet.

Introduction Unverified content is dominant and prolific in social media messages. While big data typically presents challenges in its information volume, variety and velocity, social media presents a fourth: establishing veracity. The Pheme project aims to analyse content in real time and determine how accurate the claims made in it are. As claims propagate through a social network, each individual chooses whether or not to pass on information, based on how accurate they think it is. Analysing the language used and the spread of information through a network, as well as the spatial and temporal context of the information, is used to build a real-time lie detector for social media. This will help, for example, emergency services (who already integrate social media as part of their alerting and response systems) to flag potential hoax emergencies. Evaluating the authority of sources automatically is also a project goal, based on the treatment of the news and information that comes from them. For example, a tweet of a BBC news article would hold more weight than one from an unknown source. The project is named after the Greek goddess Pheme.

Case studies Pheme addresses social media lies in two scenarios: information about healthcare, which can be particularly damaging if wrong, and information used by journalists.

Categories of rumour Pheme addresses speculation, controversy, misinformation and disinformation.

Partners The project is a partnership between the University of Sheffield as part of GATE, the University of Warwick, King's College London, Saarland University in Germany and Modul University Vienna. Four companies are also taking part - Atos, iHub Nairobi, Ontotext and swissinfo. Pheme is funded by the EU.

References

Relevant Publications L. Derczynski, K. Bontcheva. Passive-Aggressive Sequence Labeling with Discriminative Post-Editing for Recognising Person Entities in Tweets. Proceedings of the European Association for Computation Linguistics, 2014.

External links Pheme page on the GATE website Interview on Canberra radio Checking whether rumours on social media are true: video MídiaKit

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Pheme (project)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Pheme (project) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Pheme (project) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Pheme (project) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Pheme (project)

In research: Pheme (project) appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Pheme (project) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Pheme (project) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Computational linguistics, European Union and science and technology, Information technology organizations based in Europe, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Pheme (project) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Pheme (project) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Pheme (project) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Pheme (project) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pheme (project) in simple terms?

Pheme is a 36-month research project begun in 2014 into establishing the veracity of claims made on the internet. Introduction Unverified content is dominant and prolific in social media messages.

Why does Pheme (project) matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Pheme (project)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Pheme (project).