Journal article
Do the right thing: Tone may not affect correction of misinformation on social media
Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review, Vol.1(4)
06/01/2020
DOI: 10.37016/mr-2020-026
Appears in Diamond Open Access
Abstract
An experiment conducted with 610 participants suggests that corrections to misinformation—pointing out information that is wrong or misleading and offering credible information in its place—on social media reduce misperceptions regardless of the correction’s tone (uncivil, affirmational, or neutral). There is also an opportunity to correct secondary but related misperceptions (dealing with the same topic but with a different specific fact) when responding to misinformation on social media. Our findings emphasize that correction on social media could operate as part of a broader strategy to reduce beliefs in misinformation, and users should be encouraged to bring additional relevant information into the conversation, using whatever tone feels most comfortable for them.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Do the right thing: Tone may not affect correction of misinformation on social media
- Creators
- Leticia Bode - Georgetown UniversityEmily K. Vraga - University of MinnesotaMelissa Tully - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review, Vol.1(4)
- DOI
- 10.37016/mr-2020-026
- eISSN
- 2766-1652
- Publisher
- Harvard Kennedy School
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 06/01/2020
- Academic Unit
- Center for Social Science Innovation; Injury Prevention Research Center; Public Policy Center (Archive); School of Journalism and Mass Communication
- Record Identifier
- 9984285653402771
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