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Title: Timing matters when correcting fake news
Countering misinformation can reduce belief in the moment, but corrective messages quickly fade from memory. We tested whether the longer-term impact of fact-checks depends on when people receive them. In two experiments (total N = 2,683), participants read true and false headlines taken from social media. In the treatment conditions, “true” and “false” tags appeared before, during, or after participants read each headline. Participants in a control condition received no information about veracity. One week later, participants in all conditions rated the same headlines’ accuracy. Providing fact-checks after headlines ( debunking ) improved subsequent truth discernment more than providing the same information during ( labeling ) or before ( prebunking ) exposure. This finding informs the cognitive science of belief revision and has practical implications for social media platform designers.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1808571
PAR ID:
10220318
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Volume:
118
Issue:
5
ISSN:
0027-8424
Page Range / eLocation ID:
e2020043118
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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