Are We Correcting Fake News Effectively? The Role of Information Asymmetry on the Effectiveness of False and Correction Posts

Research output: Chapter in Book/Entry/PoemConference contribution

Abstract

While academics, government agencies, and industry practitioners have often proposed and relied on correction messages to reduce the spread of misinformation, recent studies indicate they have been ineffective, often amplifying the false message. The current research identifies the major factors responsible for the in/effectiveness of corrections as they interact with fake news on social media using a unique dataset obtained during two shock events. Our study revealed content- and linguistic-related features responsible for this phenomenon. We find that, for example, the more facts posted in a tweet, the less effective the correction tweet is. However, the more words and the more similar a tweet is to an original falsehood, the more effective it is, suggesting information asymmetry influences misinformation diffusion. Furthermore, we find that the probability of being effective was higher for positively charged correction tweets than negatively charged correction posts. These findings have several implications for research and practice.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publication30th Americas Conference on Information Systems, AMCIS 2024
PublisherAssociation for Information Systems
ISBN (Electronic)9798331307066
StatePublished - 2024
Event30th Americas Conference on Information Systems, AMCIS 2024 - Salt Lake City, United States
Duration: Aug 15 2024Aug 17 2024

Publication series

Name30th Americas Conference on Information Systems, AMCIS 2024

Conference

Conference30th Americas Conference on Information Systems, AMCIS 2024
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySalt Lake City
Period8/15/248/17/24

Keywords

  • Corrections
  • Fake News
  • Information Asymmetry

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Information Systems

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