Citation

Reducing Misinformation on Social Media Networks

Author:
Hayes, Thomas; Oakley, Richelle
Year:
2019

This study focuses on examining methods that can potentially reduce the spread of misinformation on major social media networks (SMN) such as Facebook and Twitter. Research finding ways to control the spread of misinformation on SMNs has been emergent. Prior research examined a SMN feature called ‘related articles’ to provide context directly under SMN posts with potentially misinformed content about controversial topics. Other research examined how SMN users were encouraged to consume online news sources outside their comfort zone when participating within a socialized environment. Each of these features separately were found to significantly reduced misperceptions of SMN users. In this study, we examine how both of these features can work together to reduce the spread of misinformation. We use an experimental survey to measure the effectiveness of SMN features in correcting misperceptions of SMN users and provide results to inform government, cybersecurity firms, social media companies, and SMN users.