Why people believe misinformation even when they’re told the facts
"Factchecking is seen as a go-to method for tackling the spread of false information. But it is notoriously difficult to correct misinformation. Evidence shows readers trust journalists less when they debunk, rather than confirm, claims.
The work of media scholar Alice Marwick can help explain why factchecking often fails when used in isolation. Her research suggests that misinformation is not just a content problem, but an emotional and structural one:
[Marwick] argues that it thrives through three mutually reinforcing pillars: the content of the message, the personal context of those sharing it, and the technological infrastructure that amplifies it:
People find it cognitively easier to accept information than to reject it, which helps explain why misleading content spreads so readily;
When fabricated claims align with a person’s existing values, beliefs and ideologies, they can quickly harden into a kind of “knowledge”. This makes them difficult to debunk;
[When social media platforms] prioritise content likely to be shared, making sharing effortless, every like, comment or forward feeds the [misinformation] system. The platforms themselves act as a multiplier.
Tags: misinformation disinformation alice-marwick research psychology social-media fake-news information debunking facts factchecking