Correction Experiences on Social Media During COVID-19

Despite a wealth of research examining the effectiveness of correction of misinformation, not enough is known about how people experience such correction when it occurs on social media. Using a study of US adults in late March 2020, we measure how often people witness correction, correct others, or are corrected themselves, using the case of COVID-19 misinformation on social media. Descriptively, our results suggest that all three experiences related to correction on social media are relatively common and occur across partisan divides. Importantly, a majority of those who report seeing misinformation also report seeing it corrected, and a majority of those who report sharing misinformation report being corrected by others. Those with more education are more likely to engage in correction, and younger respondents are more likely to report all three experiences with correction. While experiences with correction are generally unrelated to misperceptions about COVID-19, those who correct others have higher COVID-19 misperceptions.

Automated summary

Correction experiences on social media are relatively common and cut across partisan divides. The majority of people who see misinformation also see it corrected, while those who correct others have higher misperceptions about COVID-19.