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Internet users engage more with phatic posts than with health misinformation on Facebook

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Listed:
  • Manon Berriche

    (Descartes University)

  • Sacha Altay

    (PSL University, CNRS)

Abstract

Social media like Facebook are harshly criticized for the propagation of health misinformation. Yet, little research has provided in-depth analysis of real-world data to measure the extent to which Internet users engage with it. This article examines 6.5 million interactions generated by 500 posts on an emblematic case of online health misinformation: the Facebook page Santé + Mag, which generates five times more interactions than the combination of the five best-established French media outlets. Based on the literature on cultural evolution, we tested whether the presence of cognitive factors of attraction, that tap into evolved cognitive preferences, such as information related to sexuality, social relations, threat, disgust or negative emotions, could explain the success of Santé + Mag’s posts. Drawing from media studies findings, we hypothesized that their popularity could be driven by Internet users’ desire to interact with their friends and family by sharing phatic posts (i.e. statements with no practical information fulfilling a social function such as “hello” or “sister, I love you”). We found that phatic posts were the strongest predictor of interactions, followed by posts with a positive emotional valence. While 50% of the posts were related to social relations, only 28% consisted of health misinformation. Despite its cognitive appeal, health misinformation was a negative predictor of interactions. Sexual content negatively predicted interactions and other factors of attraction such as disgust, threat or negative emotions did not predict interactions. These results strengthen the idea that Facebook is first and foremost a social network used by people to foster their social relations, not to spread online misinformation. We encourage researchers working on misinformation to conduct finer-grained analysis of online content and to adopt interdisciplinary approach to study the phatic dimension of communication, together with positive content, to better understand the cultural evolution dynamics of social media.

Suggested Citation

  • Manon Berriche & Sacha Altay, 2020. "Internet users engage more with phatic posts than with health misinformation on Facebook," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 6(1), pages 1-9, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:6:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-020-0452-1
    DOI: 10.1057/s41599-020-0452-1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Hunt Allcott & Matthew Gentzkow, 2017. "Social Media and Fake News in the 2016 Election," NBER Working Papers 23089, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Wang, Yuxi & McKee, Martin & Torbica, Aleksandra & Stuckler, David, 2019. "Systematic Literature Review on the Spread of Health-related Misinformation on Social Media," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    3. Alberto Acerbi, 2019. "Cognitive attraction and online misinformation," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(1), pages 1-7, December.
    4. Heath, Chip, 1996. "Do People Prefer to Pass Along Good or Bad News? Valence and Relevance of News as Predictors of Transmission Propensity," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 79-94, November.
    5. Hunt Allcott & Matthew Gentzkow, 2017. "Social Media and Fake News in the 2016 Election," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(2), pages 211-236, Spring.
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    Cited by:

    1. Gordon Pennycook & David G. Rand, 2022. "Accuracy prompts are a replicable and generalizable approach for reducing the spread of misinformation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.
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    3. Ngo, Vu Minh & Van Nguyen, Phuc & Nguyen, Huan Huu & Thi Tram, Huong Xuan & Hoang, Long Cuu, 2023. "Governance and monetary policy impacts on public acceptance of CBDC adoption," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    4. Theiss Bendixen, 2020. "How cultural evolution can inform the science of science communication—and vice versa," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 7(1), pages 1-10, December.

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