“Shamed,” “Embarrassed,” and “Skeptical”: How Inadvertently Sharing Fake News Influences Users’ Perceptions of the Information Environment and Social Media Use

Although research has focused on the sharing of fake news behaviors by social media users, little attention has been paid to the aftermath when users realize they have shared falsehoods. This study adopts the concept of self-reconciliation in nursing science to shed light on the effects of sharing fake news on individuals’ perceptions of the information environment and social media behaviors. Our analysis of 21 in-depth interviews with frequent social media users reveals that, after their incidents of sharing fake news, they eventually came to believe that accidentally sharing misinformation may happen more often than they had previously thought. The self-reconciliation journey was different for each of them. Across the board, sharing fake news hurts users’ self-esteem, leaves a trail of concerns, embarrassment, shame, and guilt, and subsequently shapes their perceptions of the information environment as well as their social media behaviors.