Pennycook, G., Epstein, Z., Mosleh, M., Arechar, A. A., Eckles, D., & Rand, D. G. (2021). Shifting attention to accuracy can reduce misinformation online. Nature, 592(7855), 590-595. https://psyarxiv.com/3n9u8 

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Researchers wanted to study how they can subtly shift people’s attention away from misinformation and push them to share only accurate information on social media. They found that people’s sharing intentions extend beyond their beliefs, and that many people often do not pay much attention to the accuracy of the information they are sharing. Thus, this study addresses ways to shift people’s focus through attention-based interventions to reduce the spread of misinformation on social media through 3 factors: 
- Confusion about accuracy - People don’t realize they’re sharing misinformation
- Preferences for sharing information that aligns with one’s belief over accuracy
- Inattention to misinformation 

Shifting attention to accuracy can reduce misinformation online

- Disconnect between sharing and accuracy (studies 1, 2)
- Priming accuracy improves sharing (studies 3, 4, 5)
- Attention to accuracy as a mechanism (study 6)
- Deploying the intervention on Twitter (study 7)

Shifting attention to accuracy can reduce misinformation online - study designs

Disconnect between sharing and accuracy (studies 1, 2)
- People’s preferences play a huge role in determining whether they would share an accurate or inaccurate headline, even if they know that accuracy is most important 
- Political alignment, attract followers, belonging to a group of like-minded individuals 

Deploying the intervention on Twitter (study 7)
- Network dynamics – when users start sharing accurate information, their followers also see that and in turn become more cognizant of what they are really sharing 
- Social media platforms can occasionally ask users to rate the accuracy of headlines to subtly remind them of the importance of sharing only accurate information 

Shifting attention to accuracy can reduce misinformation online - discussion

- Continue with the Twitter study to look at the effects of shock-based treatments
- Study the effects of users following back accounts researchers use 
- Focus on the quality of specific articles that users share instead of a generalized score based on the news source

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