Some argue that the business model of social media makes it inherently at risk of spreading misinformation. The business model operates under the goal of enticing advertisers to pay to advertise, and they can attract advertisers by collecting user’s data and allowing advertisers to use that to make targeted advertisements. In order for platforms to attract advertisers, they need to have many users, as that increases both the amount of data available to advertisers as well as the amount of people who see their advertisements. In this way, social media are incentivized to spread shocking and sensational information, which can often include misinformation.

The Problem of Social Media Companies Business Practices with Misinformation

- The Problem of Social Media Companies Business Practices with Misinformation
- How to solve the problem of social media companies encouraging misinformation

University of Delaware

- algorithmic
- corrective
- legislative
- psychological
- humor
- emotional refutations
- social media disclaimers

Possible solutions to Misinformation

Interactive, digital technologies that allow for the sharing of information, ideas, interests and other forms of expression. They typically involve:
- user generated content
- user profiles
- connecting users


Social Media

It's difficult to trace misinformation back to their original source. Sources of fake news tend to be hyperpartisan and far-right (pro-Trump during the 2016 U.S. election). This notion is supported that even in mainstream, left-wing journalists tend to follow journalistic guidelines and codes more than right-wing journalists. In the past years, automated bots have much contributed to the spread of misinformation. It has been found than certain social media sites such as Facebook are better for spreading fake news than others such as twitter. 

Supply of Misinformation

Gary, Jeff, and Ashkan Soltani. “First Things First: Online Advertising Practices and Their Effects on Platform Speech.” RSS, 21 Aug. 2019, knightcolumbia.org/content/first-things-first-online-advertising-practices-and-their-effects-on-platform-speech. 

First Things First: Online Advertising Practices and Their Effects on Platform Speech

Social media platforms can alter algorithms to hinder the spread of misinformation and to create a distinction between how legitimate news sources and unreliable news sources appear in a person’s feed. This may also involve suggesting correct information that refutes misinformation that someone has viewed as suggested viewing
Problem: algorithms fail sometimes, they might not detect a fake news source. 

Solution to Misinformation: Algorithmic

Using fact checking to debunk misinformation.

Solution to Misinformation: Corrective

Using laws to regulate news and quell disinformation.

Solution to Misinformation: Legislative

- Don’t repeat wrong information because of the repition-based truth-effect.
- Institutions should work to increase people’s trust in them to reduce health-related anxiety.
- Active inoculating and prebunking.
- Repeated warnings.
- Improve people’s health literacy.


Pan, Liu and Fang's (2021) recommendations on how to fight the spread of health misinformation

Humor is often implemented by scientists when they present information. Humor is closely related to mirth, which refers to people's perceptions of how funny, humorous, and amusing a stimulus is. Interestingly, humor and mirth can have an effect on how scientific information is communicated. Therefore, they can likely be used as a method to combat misinformation.

Solution to Misinformation: Humor

Emotional refutations are statements that include emotional content and attempt to correct misinformation.

Solution to Misinformation: Emotional Refutations

Social Media platforms have started integrating mechanics that allow for the identification of fake news. For instance, such features have been introduced in Weibo, which is a Chinese social media platform.

Solutions to Misinformation: Social Media Disclaimers

Authors Jeff Gary and Ashkan Soltani argue that in order to reduce the spread of misinformation and harmful content on social media, rather than mandating specific content based regulations, it is more effective to address the business models under which social media platforms operate .

According to the authors, the underlying platform business models encourage and enable the spread of harmful content, including fake news. The business practice of most of these private company platforms is mainly based on tailored and targeted advertising. 

What enables targeted advertising is data collection from users. And in order to collect more data about the interests, preferences, personality, and behavior of specific users, social media platforms need to maximize the frequency and intensity with which users users interact with their platform.

Misinformation, harmful speeches, and conspiracy theories are financially advantageous to the platforms because they increase engagement of users and illicit responses. Fake news may be shared by users when it is is reaffirming of their sense of identity, community, and culture. When users spend more time on these platforms, more of their data can be collected and the more exposed they are to targeted advertising.

It is not just users that promote divisive and controversial contents; the platforms themselves promote such speech to garner user attention. Examples that the authors provide are Facebook's permission, until recently, to use the category "Jew haters" by advertisers for targeted advertisement and how Facebook distributed anti-vaccination ads to potential young mothers.

Addressing the Problem of Social Media Misinformation by Focusing on Social Media Companies' Business Practices

Researchers have been creating electronic simulations as means to train people to identify fake news. These are often presented in the form of games, and they simulate online platforms where misinformation and fake news are spread.

Electronic Simulation Interventions for Fake News

This research paper explains the potential psychology behind political misinformation, as well as how the issue type and source of the correction of misinformation may affect the effectiveness of the correction. They also include where the literature has not yet developed and how measurement methods may be involved. 

Political Misinformation Methods of Correction by Jennifer Jerit and Yangzi Zhao

Allowing users to view a list of guidelines for detecting a fake news post or article themselves. Works by priming critical thinking mechanisms. Could be a useful correction method on social media platforms like Facebook. 

Guideline Correction

A retraction of misinformation at the end of a news article significantly reduces reliance on misinformation

Official Retraction (print)

Many researchers believe that correcting the misinformation immediately on social media and news platforms is best way to stopping the spread of misinformation. A perfect example would be fact checking tweets made by verified users on twitter. However, this is being disproved to being an effective way to stopping the spread of misinformation.

Background Information: Negated Corrections and Misinformation

While most research on misinformation is aimed at adults, some research has also investigated how misinformation interventions can be used within an educational context to serve younger populations.

Solutions to Misinformation for Children

Warning-based approaches were found to be most well-liked by users and also most effective at preventing the spread of misinformation in a study investigating different types of misinformation interventions on social media.

Warning-based Approaches

Social Media Companies and Misinformation

In an accuracy prompt, an individual is prompted to actively think about accuracy as a concept prior to being exposed to the piece of information that they are to evaluate (ex. news headline). Accuracy prompts are particularly useful because they are proactive rather than reactive, thus they can help prevent the sharing of misinformation in the first place in addition to avoidaing a reliance on tech companies/government regulators to be doing the discerning of whether or not a piece of information is accurate. Accuracy prompts have been shown to result in a significant increase in helping to proactively reduce the spread of misinformation, evident by the 71.7% increase in sharing discernment following the use of accuracy prompts. 

Solution to Misinformation: Accuracy Prompts

Also known as "conspiratorial ideation", this refers to the general tendency to endorse and believe in conspiracy theories. Those high in conspiracy ideations are less likely to believe in scientific findings and tend to form insular communities that restrict the exposure of correct information.

Conspiratorial Thinking

- Facebook
- Twitter
- Instagram
- Snapchat
- LinkdIn

Popular social medias

SNS (Social Networking Services) have broad impacts on adolescents' academic development ranging from their grades to their social connections and self-efficacy in the classroom. Implementing SNS into a class curriculum could prove to be more beneficial than harmful.

Social Networks in Academic Settings

There are elements within social media that make it compelling to use and it is a way for users to connect with people around the world without necessarily having to meet the person. Social media generates a way for users to reconnect with people from their past and haven't had the chance to interact with them in a while. 


Social Media User Experience

The results show that approval via social media can help certain kinds of narcissists lessen the distress caused from social exclusion.

Summary of article

Nash, K., Johansson, A., & Yogeeswaran, K. (2019). Social Media approval reduces emotional arousal for people high in narcissism: Electrophysiological evidence. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 13, 292.

Reference for Social Media Approval Reduces Emotional Arousal for People High in Narcissism: Electrophysiological Evidence

References for the Impact of Social Media on the Mental Health of Adolescents and Young Adults

In today's society, teenagers are using social media excessively. In attempting to assess risks for adolescents and mental health, along with other aspects, social media has now been viewed as an underlying factor to watch out for. Despite the lack of evidence to support the claim, the relationship between social media and mental health can be connected back to adolescent and professional views. Some of the risks of using excessive social media consist of privacy concerns, cyberbullying, schooling, and mental health impacts. On the other hand, it has been argued that social media allows for expansions in networking, boosts self-esteem, promotes health, and gives more insight into medical information. Based on the amount of research done, it has been found that excessive intake of social media leads to chronic sleep loss, affecting cognitive ability, school performance, and socio-emotional functioning. To ensure that the youth and their families are being supported to decrease the amount of social media and phone use, clinicians are utilizing various skills.  

Impact of Social Media on the Mental Health of Adolescents and Young Adults

During a crisis, social media is used to spread information. Anyone can take part in the spreading of information which can be bad. Trust during a crisis is important and if individuals' social media posts are not regulated or fact-checked like those belonging to an organization or agency misinformation spreads. Rumor's and misinformation can cause panic and lead to resources being spent on false leads.

Social Media is Unregulated: Double-edge Sword 

Unknown or unfamiliar news sources have the possibilities of producing biased stories or misinformation (Guess, Nyhan, and Reifler 2020; Lazer et al. 2018). 

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