Researchers Have Figured Out a Way to Stop People from Sharing Misinformation
AnonTechie writes:
Researchers Have Figured Out a Way to Stop People From Sharing Misinformation:
A new study in Nature suggests that shifting reader attention online can help combat the spread of inaccurate information. The study, published on March 17, 2021, found that while people prefer to share accurate information, it is difficult to convince the average social media user to seek it out before sharing. Adding a roadblock in the form of a request to rate information accuracy can actually change the quality of information they share online.
"These findings indicate that people often share misinformation because their attention is focused on factors other than accuracy-and therefore they fail to implement a strongly held preference for accurate sharing," write the authors, suggesting that people usually want to do good but often fail in the heat of the moment. "Our results challenge the popular claim that people value partisanship over accuracy and provide evidence for scalable attention-based interventions that social media platforms could easily implement to counter misinformation online"
[...] In other words, many users don't share fake news because they want to but because they don't think about what they're sharing before they press the button. Slowing down the process by asking users whether or now[sic] they actually trust a headline or news source means they are far more likely to think twice before sharing misinformation.
What do you think? Will this stop people from sharing fake news?
Journal Reference:
Gordon Pennycook, Ziv Epstein, Mohsen Mosleh, et al. Shifting attention to accuracy can reduce misinformation online [open], Nature (DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03344-2)
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