Nudging Social Media toward Accuracy

Date01 March 2022
AuthorGordon Pennycook,David G. Rand
DOI10.1177/00027162221092342
Published date01 March 2022
Subject MatterMisinformation
152 ANNALS, AAPSS, 700, March 2022
DOI: 10.1177/00027162221092342
Nudging Social
Media toward
Accuracy
By
GORDON PENNYCOOK
and
DAVID G. RAND
1092342ANN THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMYNUDGING SOCIAL MEDIA TOWARD ACCURACY
research-article2022
A meaningful portion of online misinformation sharing
is likely attributable to Internet users failing to consider
accuracy when deciding what to share. As a result, sim-
ply redirecting attention to the concept of accuracy can
increase sharing discernment. Here we discuss the
importance of accuracy and describe a limited-attention
utility model that is based on a theory about inattention
to accuracy on social media. We review research that
shows how a simple nudge or prompt that shifts atten-
tion to accuracy increases the quality of news that
people share (typically by decreasing the sharing of
false content), and then discuss outstanding questions
relating to accuracy nudges, including the need for
more work relating to persistence and habituation as
well as the dearth of cross-cultural research on these
topics. We also make several recommendations for
policy-makers and social media companies for how to
implement accuracy nudges.
Keywords: misinformation; nudges; interventions;
social media; inattention
It’s not the tweets, it’s the retweets that get you
in trouble. . . . You see something that looks
good and you don’t investigate it.
—Donald Trump (Interview with Barstool
Sports, 2020)1
A great deal of concern exists about falsehoods
spreading on the Internet, often via social
media.2 Here we review a burgeoning literature
on a relatively new approach to the online mis-
information problem that has been gaining
Gordon Pennycook is an assistant professor of behavio-
ral science at the University of Regina’s Hill/Levene
Schools of Business. He is also an affiliate member of
the Department of Psychology.
David G. Rand is the Erwin H. Schell Professor and
professor of management science and brain and
cogni tive sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology.
Correspondence: gordon.pennycook@uregina.ca

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