Is misinformation more likely to be shared on social media than accurate information?
A 2018 study in Science found falsehoods were 70% more likely to be retweeted than truths on Twitter. “It took the truth about six times as long” to reach 1,500 people, the study found. False political news spread more quickly. The study also found humans and bots spread news at the same rate.
Researchers have studied how human limitations speed the spread of fake news on social media. Overloaded by information, people rely on preexisting political biases. Conservatives are somewhat more susceptible to sharing fake news, but liberal users are vulnerable too. Users want community—so they're more likely to share fake material when they think others have.
A 2020 study from Harvard's Kennedy School found that higher social media exposure was associated with more misperceptions about COVID-19, and “a powerful association” with “social distancing non-compliance.”
