Citation

Jang JW, Lee EJ, Shin SY. Cyberpsychol. Behav. Soc. Netw. 2019; 22(6): 423-427.

Affiliation

Department of Communicology, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, Hawaii.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Mary Ann Liebert Publishers)

DOI

10.1089/cyber.2018.0608

PMID

31135182

Abstract

A web-based experiment (n = 960) examined how debunking of publicly shared news on social media affects viewers' attitudes toward the source who shared the fake news, their agreement with the news position, and perceived credibility of social media as a news platform. Exposure to debunking information did not lower participants' agreement with the news position, but led them to derogate (1) the source who shared the misinformation and (2) social media as a news platform. However, participants who initially favored the source were less likely to attribute the sharing of fake news to the source's dispositions, rather than situational factors, thereby maintaining their positive attitudes toward the source.

Language: en

Keywords

attribution; credibility; debunking; fake news; misinformation