Misinformation is sadly something we all encounter far too often online. Research from the University of Copenhagen suggests that such encounters often result in those peddling the misinformation being ridiculed rather than any attempts made to correct them.
“We tend to believe that people eager to correct misinformation will be very fact-oriented. But our study shows that this group of people typically choose to ridicule those spreading misinformation,” the researchers explain. “Instead of bridging gaps or inviting people to change their minds by updating their knowledge, their response to misinformation takes the form of know-it-all remarks intended to patronize their opponent and praise themselves.”
Focusing on the facts
The researchers analyzed nearly 10,000 Danish-language tweets about face masks and the Covid pandemic between February and November 2020. The analysis revealed that just 5% of the tweets focused on misinformation, with just 3% of all tweets involving mask-related misinformation.
Even fewer people made any effort to try and correct this misinformation, with just 28% of any encounter with people spreading misinformation being an attempt to correct matters. Over twice as many people would instead focus on ridiculing or stigmatizing the sender, with humor often used in these efforts.
The researchers suggest, therefore, that when we engage with misinformation, regardless of whether we’re spreading or rejecting it, we’re primarily speaking to our “own” side rather than the other side.
“The social media tone has always been fierce, and of course, people may wish to openly correct false or absurd assertions—also on Twitter. But the result can be great polarization if people begin to stigmatize others as crazy. And a society that cannot bridge gaps has no cohesion,” the researchers say.
The results also call into question our ability to have discussions about misinformation, or indeed to correct the misinformation we encounter online. Instead, the default approach seems to be to ridicule those spreading the misinformation. The researchers believe that the findings could also inform how we handle things like hate speech as well as the spread of misinformation.
“Twitter in the US has experimented with tasking volunteers with checking assertions. Our analysis suggests that this is a complex task,” the authors conclude. “Because people do not go online simply to exchange information, but also to consolidate their own status and identity. When people commit to fighting misinformation, it is also a way to make themselves visible to like-minded people. And we need to be aware of that dynamic.”
