You’re Definitely Wrong, Maybe: Correction Style Has Minimal Effect on Corrections of Misinformation Online
Name
MaC 9(1) - You're Definitely Wrong, Maybe Correction Style Has Minimal Effect on Corrections of Misinformation Online.pdf
Size
3.16 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
e711f818277e8d28f604c121e9bc65a5
Author(s)
Martel, Cameron
Mosleh, Mohsen
Rand, David Gertler
Date Issued
February 2021
Journal
Media and Communication
Publisher
Cogitatio
Citation
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
Version
Final published version
Abstract
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.
MIT Department
Sloan School of Management
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v9i1.3519
