Revealing complexities when adult readers engage in the credibility evaluation of social media posts
Authors: M Kuutila, C Kiili, R Kupiainen, E Huusko, J Li
Published: 2024
Publication: Computers in Human ..., 2024 - Elsevier
The study found that prior belief consistency and source expertise significantly influenced perceived credibility of health-related social media posts, while evidence quality had minimal impact. Crowdsourcing platform choice also affected credibility evaluations of inaccurate posts.
Methods: Researchers created social media posts with manipulated source characteristics, claim accuracy, and evidence quality. Participants evaluated the credibility of these posts via crowdsourcing platforms after having their prior topic beliefs assessed.
Key Findings: The perceived credibility of health-related social media posts based on source characteristics, evidence quality, prior beliefs, and the platform used for data collection.
Limitations: The study's findings may be limited by its reliance on computer-generated posts and artificial scenarios, which may not fully capture real-world credibility evaluations.
Research Area: Social Media Credibility Evaluation, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Cyberpsychology, AI Evaluation
Discipline: Computer science, human–computer interaction, cyberpsychology
Sample Size: 844 participants
Citations: 19
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2023.108017