Prof @MIT working on misinformation/fake news, social media, intuition vs deliberation, cooperation, politics, religion
(he/him)
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After 2016, tech cos were under intense pressure to combat misinfo. Now, that pressure has shifted to avoiding claims of political bias, mostly from the right. This is stifling action against misinfo (and unfairly punishing misinfo researchers like Renee DiResta @katestarbird )
Attempts to debunk conspiracies are often futile, leading many to conclude that psychological needs/motivations blind pple & make them resistant to evidence. But maybe past attempts just didn't deliver sufficiently specific/compelling evidence+arguments?
Attempts to debunk conspiracies are often futile, leading many to conclude that consp beliefs are driven by needs/motivations & thus resistant to evidence. But maybe past attempts just didn't deliver sufficiently specific/compelling evidence+arguments?
Belief in misinfo has been linked to components of the digital media environment that increase reliance on intuitions. But why do our intuitions support belief in falsehoods? 
Professional fact-checking can help reduce misinfo:
A lot has been learned about psychology of misinformation/fake news, and what interventions may work. For overview, see @GordPennycook and my TICS review: 
Previously we found a disconnect between what people judge as accurate and what they say they'd share- despite not wanting to share things they realize are false. Why? Largely bc people simply forget to consider accuracy when deciding what to share
The root of the challenge when inferring political bias is that Republicans/conservatives are substantially more likely to share misinformation/fake news, as shown eg by @andyguess @j_a_tucker @grinbergnir @davidlazer et al science.org/doi/10.1126/sc… science.org/doi/abs/10.112…
A lot has been learned about psychology of misinformation/fake news, and what interventions may work - for overview, see @GordPennycook and my TICS review below:
Lack of digital literacy is a favorite explanation in both public & academy for the spread of fake news/misinformation. But there's surprisingly little data investigating this, and results that do exist are mixed. One issue is that dig lit is operationalized in various diff ways 
Fact-checking could reduce misinformation
Why do people share misinfo? Are they just confused and can't tell whats true?
We are more likely to be friends with co-partisans offline & online
Fact-checking could help fight misinformation online:
Previously we found people share political misinfo b/c social media distracts them from accuracy- NOT b/c they cant tell true v false, NOT b/c they dont care about accuracy
We first ask why people share misinformation. It is because they simply can't assess the accuracy of information? 