What Explains the Spread of Misinformation in Online Personal Messaging Networks? Exploring the Role of Conflict Avoidance

Bibliographic Data

ID22010802
AuthorsAndrew Chadwick (0000-0002-5155-8173, Chadwick University, corresponding author), C Vaccari (0000-0003-0380-8921, Twitter (United States)), Natalie-Anne Hall (0000-0002-7848-9673, Loughborough University)
Year2024
Volume12
Issue5
Pages574-593
Publication date2024-05-27
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueDigital Journalism (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2167-0811 • E-ISSN: 2167-082X
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/21670811.2023.2206038
OpenAlexW4376105459
LanguageEN
Citations received23
References cited29

Online personal messaging platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are now hugely popular around the world. Yet their role in the spread and social correction of misinformation remains under-researched. We carried out in-depth, semi-structured interviews with the UK public (N = 102) to explore how social relationships and technological design interact and foster norms regulating how people respond when their everyday social ties share misinformation on these platforms. Conceptualizing messaging as hybrid public-interpersonal communication, we develop a framework that situates online political talk in the context of everyday social interaction. We show that, among our participants, a norm of conflict avoidance is particularly powerful on these platforms and makes people reluctant to speak out. Conflict avoidance should therefore be taken seriously as a contributor to the diffusion of misinformation in everyday life. Policymakers and other stakeholders, including news organizations, should explore new, tailored ways to empower citizens to challenge misinformation in these important online spaces, where automated and algorithmic interventions are impossible

Computer security · Everyday life · Internet privacy · Interpersonal communication · Misinformation · Political science · Public relations · Social media · Sociology · World Wide Web · Computer Science · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Opinion Dynamics and Social Influence · Psychology · Social Media and Politics · Social Psychology

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