Abstract

Throughout the current global health crisis, false and misleading content has proliferated on social media. Previous research indicates that users of social media primarily share information that contains attention-grabbing elements. Because sensationalist elements are prevalent in disinformation, this study examines the role of sensationalism in supporting disinformation. We conducted survey experiments in six countries (N = 7,009), presenting versions of a false claim that differed in their degree of sensationalism. We varied three contextual conditions for disinformation support: whether respondents grew up in a tabloid-oriented national news culture, whether they indicated individual usage preferences for tabloid and alternative media, and how they rated their situational uncertainty during the pandemic. Our results show a weak influence of tabloidized cultures, but people who frequently use tabloid or alternative media are more likely to agree with disinformation. Users who are uncertain about what is true and what is false are also more likely to agree with disinformation, especially when it is presented sensationally. The average user, however, is more likely to agree with disinformation that is presented neutrally. This finding is concerning, as disinformation presented in a sober manner is much harder to detect by those who want to fight the “infodemic.”

摘要

在当前的全球健康危机中，虚假和误导性内容在社交媒体上激增。先前的研究表明，社交媒体的用户主要分享包含引人注目元素的信息。由于耸人听闻的因素在虚假信息中普遍存在，本研究考察了耸人听闻在支持虚假信息中的作用。我们在六个国家（ N  = 7,009）进行了调查实验，提出了不同版本的耸人听闻的虚假声明。我们改变了虚假信息支持的三个背景条件：受访者是否在以小报为导向的国家新闻文化中长大，他们是否表示个人对小报和替代媒体的使用偏好，以及他们如何评估大流行期间的情况不确定性。我们的结果显示小报文化的影响较弱，但经常使用小报或替代媒体的人更有可能同意虚假信息。不确定什么是真假的用户也更有可能同意虚假信息，尤其是当它被耸人听闻地呈现时。然而，普通用户更有可能同意中立呈现的虚假信息。这一发现令人担忧，因为那些想要与“信息流行病”作斗争的人更难发现以清醒的方式呈现的虚假信息。