Social Science Research Council Research AMP Just Tech
Citation

The Online Misinformation Engagement Framework

Author:
Geers, Michael; Swire-Thompson, Briony; Lorenz-Spreen, Philipp; Herzog, Stefan M.; Kozyreva, Anastasia; Hertwig, Ralph
Publication:
Current Opinion in Psychology
Year:
2024

Research on online misinformation has evolved rapidly, but organizing its results and identifying open research questions is difficult without a systematic approach. We present the Online Misinformation Engagement Framework, which classifies people’s engagement with online misinformation into four stages: selecting information sources, choosing what information to consume or ignore, evaluating the accuracy of the information and/or the credibility of the source, and judging whether and how to react to the information (e.g., liking or sharing). We outline entry points for interventions at each stage and pinpoint the two early stages—source and information selection—as relatively neglected processes that should be addressed to further improve people’s ability to contend with misinformation.