Pausing to consider why a headline is true or false can help reduce the sharing of false news

Author: Fazio, Lisa

Description: In an online experiment, participants who paused to explain why a headline was true or false indicated that they were less likely to share false information compared to control participants. Their intention to share accurate news stories was unchanged. These results indicate that adding “friction” (i.e., pausing to think) before sharing can improve the quality of information shared on social media. 

Subject headings: Disinformation; Fake news; Psychology; Social media

Publication year: 2020

Journal or book title: Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review

Volume: 1

Issue: 2

Find the full text: https://misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/FORMATTED_reducingshares_020920.pdf

Find more like this one (cited by): https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cites=2320662766288506646&as_sdt=1000005&sciodt=0,16&hl=en

Serial number: 4149