A Warning Sign of the Times: Detecting and Deterring the Spread of Misinformation on Facebook and Instagram

Misinformation is ubiquitous, stoked by the popularity of social media, and has permeated into every part of society. To prevent the spread of misinformation, users need to be able to differentiate true from false postings. Researchers and social media companies have constructed various debunking techniques to alert users of false news in their social media newsfeeds. Newer debunking techniques, such as message popup warnings, lack sufficient research on the warning's effect to influence posting credibility or deter the further spread of a false posting. Furthermore, users’ choice of social media platform (Facebook or Instagram) may also affect the detection and spread of false postings. The overall research question was how does the presentation of message popup warnings affect the detection and deterrence of misinformation across two of the most popular social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram? Using a mixed study (N = 370), this study found that platforms may play a role in the spread of misinformation; before being presented with a message popup warning, users found false news on Instagram more accurate than false postings on Facebook. Message popup warnings were equally effective on both Facebook and Instagram to deter the spread of misinformation. Additionally, once exposed to popup warnings, participants found message popup warnings useful for detecting misinformation on social media.