ANI
07 Jun 2023, 01:56 GMT+10
Washington [US], June 6 (ANI): According to a new experimental study led by UCL researchers, the addition of 'trust' and 'distrust' buttons on social media, alongside the standard 'like' buttons, could help to reduce the spread of misinformation.
Incentivising accuracy cut in half the reach of false posts, according to the findings published in eLife.
Co-lead author, Professor Tali Sharot (UCL PsychologyLanguage Sciences, Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology) said: "Over the past few years, the spread of misinformation, or 'fake news', has skyrocketed, contributing to the polarisation of the political sphere and affecting people's beliefs on anything from vaccine safety to climate change to tolerance of diversity. Existing ways to combat this, such as flagging inaccurate posts, have had limited impact.
"Part of why misinformation spreads so readily is that users are rewarded with 'likes' and 'shares' for popular posts, but without much incentive to share only what's true.
"Here, we have designed a simple way to incentivise trustworthiness, which we found led to a large reduction in the amount of misinformation being shared."In another recent paper, published in Cognition, Professor Sharot and colleagues found that people were more likely to share statements on social media that they had previously been exposed to, as people saw repeated information as more likely to be accurate, demonstrating the power of repetition of misinformation.For the latest study, they sought to test out a potential solution, using a simulated social media platform used by 951 study participants across six experiments. The platforms involved users sharing news articles, half of which were inaccurate, and other users could react not only with 'like' or 'dislike' reactions, and repost stories, but in some versions of the experiment users could also react with 'trust' or 'distrust' reactions.
The researchers found that the incentive structure was popular, as people used the trust/distrust buttons more than like/dislike buttons, and it was also effective, as users started posting more true than false information in order to gain 'trust' reactions. Further analysis using computational modelling revealed that after the introduction of trust/distrust reactions, participants were also paying more attention to how reliable a news story appeared to be when deciding whether to repost it.
Additionally, the researchers found that after using the platform, those who had been using the versions with trust/distrust buttons ended up with more accurate beliefs.
Co-lead author, PhD student Laura Globig (UCL PsychologyLanguage Sciences, Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology) said: "Buttons indicating the trustworthiness of information could easily be incorporated into existing social media platforms, and our findings suggest they could be worthwhile to reduce the spread of misinformation without reducing user engagement.
"While it's difficult to predict how this would play out in the real world with a wider range of influences, given the grave risks of online misinformation, this could be a valuable addition to ongoing efforts to combat misinformation." (ANI)
Get a daily dose of Boston Star news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Boston Star.
More InformationNEW YORK, New York - The Nasdaq defied a general sell-off on U.S. equity markets Monday, as the new quarter ...
NEW YORK, New York - The U.S. dollar jumped sharply on Monday, extending its recent months-long rally.The euro crumbled to ...
CHICAGO, Illinois: On September 29, the union representing United Airlines' pilots said its members had ratified a new four-year contract, ...
SHANGHAI, China: Chinese officials report that 100 million people are traveling daily during the ongoing Golden Week holiday. Three times ...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden: Swedish lithium-ion battery producer Northvolt announced this week that it would build a $5.2 billion gigafactory in the ...
SACRAMENTO, California: Fast food workers will now receive $20 per hour in California, after the governor signed a fast food ...
NEW LONDON, Connecticut: Video footage taken deep in the Pacific Ocean provided the first detailed view of three World War ...
(Photo credit: Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports) NC State will start sophomore quarterback MJ Morris in place of graduate transfer Brennan ...
© Provided by Xinhua Through their groundbreaking findings, which have fundamentally changed the understanding of how mRNA interacts with the ...
(Photo credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports) Indiana Fever forward-center Aliyah Boston was unanimously named the 2023 WNBA Rookie of the ...
(Photo credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports) Training camp opened Monday in Philadelphia where the narrative around the 76ers became abundantly ...
(Photo credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports) The Celtics made the latest move in what has turned into an arms race ...