You’re Definitely Wrong, Maybe: Correction Style Has Minimal Effect on Corrections of Misinformation Online
How can online communication most effectively respond to misinformation posted on social media? Recent studies examining the content of corrective messages provide mixed results—several studies suggest that politer, hedged messages may increase engagement with corrections, while others favor direct...
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
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Cogitatio
2021
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/129719 |
| _version_ | 1826203557591777280 |
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| author | Martel, Cameron Mosleh, Mohsen Rand, David Gertler |
| author2 | Sloan School of Management |
| author_facet | Sloan School of Management Martel, Cameron Mosleh, Mohsen Rand, David Gertler |
| author_sort | Martel, Cameron |
| collection | MIT |
| description | How can online communication most effectively respond to misinformation posted on social media? Recent studies examining the content of corrective messages provide mixed results—several studies suggest that politer, hedged messages may increase engagement with corrections, while others favor direct messaging which does not shed doubt on the credibility of the corrective message. Furthermore, common debunking strategies often include keeping the message simple and clear, while others recommend including a detailed explanation of why the initial misinformation is incorrect. To shed more light on how correction style affects correction efficacy, we manipulated both correction strength (direct, hedged) and explanatory depth (simple explanation, detailed explanation) in response to participants from Lucid (N = 2,228) who indicated they would share a false story in a survey experiment. We found minimal evidence suggesting that correction strength or depth affects correction engagement, both in terms of likelihood of replying, and accepting or resisting corrective information. However, we do find that analytic thinking and actively open-minded thinking are associated with greater acceptance of information in response to corrective messages, regardless of correction style. Our results help elucidate the efficacy of user-generated corrections of misinformation on social media. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T12:39:28Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/129719 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T12:39:28Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | Cogitatio |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1297192022-10-01T10:19:01Z You’re Definitely Wrong, Maybe: Correction Style Has Minimal Effect on Corrections of Misinformation Online Martel, Cameron Mosleh, Mohsen Rand, David Gertler Sloan School of Management Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences How can online communication most effectively respond to misinformation posted on social media? Recent studies examining the content of corrective messages provide mixed results—several studies suggest that politer, hedged messages may increase engagement with corrections, while others favor direct messaging which does not shed doubt on the credibility of the corrective message. Furthermore, common debunking strategies often include keeping the message simple and clear, while others recommend including a detailed explanation of why the initial misinformation is incorrect. To shed more light on how correction style affects correction efficacy, we manipulated both correction strength (direct, hedged) and explanatory depth (simple explanation, detailed explanation) in response to participants from Lucid (N = 2,228) who indicated they would share a false story in a survey experiment. We found minimal evidence suggesting that correction strength or depth affects correction engagement, both in terms of likelihood of replying, and accepting or resisting corrective information. However, we do find that analytic thinking and actively open-minded thinking are associated with greater acceptance of information in response to corrective messages, regardless of correction style. Our results help elucidate the efficacy of user-generated corrections of misinformation on social media. 2021-02-09T16:25:43Z 2021-02-09T16:25:43Z 2021-02 2020-07 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 2183-2439 https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/129719 Martel, Cameron et al. "You’re Definitely Wrong, Maybe: Correction Style Has Minimal Effect on Corrections of Misinformation Online." Media and Communication 9, 1 (February 2021): 120-133 © 2021 Authors http://dx.doi.org/10.17645/mac.v9i1.3519 Media and Communication Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ application/pdf Cogitatio Media and Communication |
| spellingShingle | Martel, Cameron Mosleh, Mohsen Rand, David Gertler You’re Definitely Wrong, Maybe: Correction Style Has Minimal Effect on Corrections of Misinformation Online |
| title | You’re Definitely Wrong, Maybe: Correction Style Has Minimal Effect on Corrections of Misinformation Online |
| title_full | You’re Definitely Wrong, Maybe: Correction Style Has Minimal Effect on Corrections of Misinformation Online |
| title_fullStr | You’re Definitely Wrong, Maybe: Correction Style Has Minimal Effect on Corrections of Misinformation Online |
| title_full_unstemmed | You’re Definitely Wrong, Maybe: Correction Style Has Minimal Effect on Corrections of Misinformation Online |
| title_short | You’re Definitely Wrong, Maybe: Correction Style Has Minimal Effect on Corrections of Misinformation Online |
| title_sort | you re definitely wrong maybe correction style has minimal effect on corrections of misinformation online |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/129719 |
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