Concept

The Susceptibility of Social Media to Misinformation

Many aspects of social media make it especially susceptible to the spread of misinformation.

  • Messages are easy to process, therefore easy to believe.
  • Credibility is easily established by following friends, who often have similar views (which also establishes compatibility).
  • Posts are shared by people you trust, establishes repetition and social consensus.
  • Comments and related posts provide supporting evidence and familiarity.
  • Users can gain a false sense of expertise, becoming very familiar with one perspective.
  • Lack of opposing ideas on a person’s feed is interpreted as a lack of different ideas overall.

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Updated 2022-07-08

Tags

Psychology

Social Science

Empirical Science

Science