Abstract
Growing evidence points to the significant amount of health misinformation on social media platforms, requiring users to assess the believability of messages and trustworthiness of message sources. This mixed methods experimental study fills this gap in research by examining social media users’ (n=53) trust assessment in simulated cancer-related messages using eye-tracking, surveys, and cognitive interviews. Posts varied by information veracity (evidence-based vs. non-evidence-based) and source type (government agency, health organization, lay individual); topics included HPV vaccination and sun safety. Among sources, participants reported trusting the government more than individuals, regardless of veracity. When viewing non-evidence-based messages, participants reported higher trust in health organizations than individuals. Participants with high trust in message source tended to report high message believability. Furthermore, attention spent on viewing the source of the post was not associated with the amount of trust in the source of message, which suggests that participants may have utilized other cognitive heuristics when processing the posts. Through post-experiment interviews, participants described higher trust in government due to reputation and familiarity. Further verification of the quality of information is needed to combat the spread of misinformation on Facebook. Future research should consider messaging strategies that include sources that are already trusted and begin to build trust among other credible sources.
Highlights
Facebook is a ubiquitous destination for individuals to seek, obtain, and share health-related information (Perrin and Anderson, 2019), and can be effective for experience sharing, awarenessraising, and support-seeking related to health (Farmer et al, 2009; Bender et al, 2012)
There was no difference in reported source trust between health organizations and government agencies (p = 0.42)
The qualitative findings suggested that participants reported higher trust in government agencies and health organizations because of the familiarity they have with the research being conducted, and reputation these agencies/organizations have established over time. These findings help solidify the quantitative findings found in the stratified analyses examining trust in message source by veracity of messages participants viewed. This mixed methods study utilized simulated Facebook posts about cancer information to investigate the association between message source type and participants’ trust in these sources
Summary
Facebook is a ubiquitous destination for individuals to seek, obtain, and share health-related information (Perrin and Anderson, 2019), and can be effective for experience sharing, awarenessraising, and support-seeking related to health (Farmer et al, 2009; Bender et al, 2012). While growth of user-generated content on social media has enabled peer-to-peer health communication within and across social networks, such content poses increased risks in circulating misinformation. Health misinformation is defined as “a health-related claim of fact that is currently false due Source Trust Assessment to a lack of scientific evidence” Even if accurate information is disseminated through social media, the risk of believing misinformation still exists, and evidence points to the spread of health-related misinformation as more popular or believable on social media platforms (Scanfeld et al, 2010; Guidry et al, 2015; Loeb et al, 2019)
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