You better think while you use social media

When using social media, it’s best to follow Aretha Franklin’s advice: You better think!

Now, why is thinking so important when engaging with social media? Well, Salovich and colleagues (2023) have conducted two studies that back up what The Queen of Soul said. First, they replicated previous findings showing that when people read inaccurate information on social media (e.g., “Finally in Marseille! Can’t wait to explore the capital of France!”) they are more likely to subsequently answer questions about that information incorrectly (um…the capital of France is Paris, y’all). Then, in a second study, they asked participants to either evaluate the information for accuracy, their own interest, or the likelihood they would “like” the post on social media. You might suspect that asking people to decide if they’d “like” a post (something many people do) would invoke an evaluation of the post’s accuracy. Unfortunately, no. Participants who evaluated for interest or liking showed the same inaccuracy effects as in the first study; it was only the participants who evaluated for accuracy who did better on the information posttest. So, the lesson here? Liking doesn’t seem to spark thoughtful evaluation - we “like” things without sufficiently evaluating them, which can lead us to learn incorrect information. So, if you want to bad information online, you better think, because as Aretha said:

People walking around every day

Playing games and taking scores

Trying to make other people lose their minds

Well, be careful, you're goin' to lose yours

Oh, think (think)