Abstract

Amidst fundamental changes to the news industry, relatively little is known about who posts fact-checks online despite the increasing presence of fact-checking in society. Based upon a content analysis of Facebook and Twitter digital trace data and a linked online survey (N = 783), this study assesses three sets of individual-level attributes influencing the sharing of fact-checks in political conversations on social media: demographics, behaviors, and motivational states. Results show that posting fact-checks is linked to age, ideology, and political behaviors. Moreover, an individual’s need for orientation (NFO) is an even stronger predictor of sharing a fact-check than ideological intensity or relevance, alone, and also influences the type of fact- check format (with or without a ratings scale) that is shared. Thus, in an environment increasingly marked by social curation rather than only by the producers of news, the motivational state described by NFO has important implications beyond just news consumption by also accounting for news sharing, as well. Finally, consistent with inoculation theory, participants generally shared fact-checks to reinforce their existing attitudes. Consequently, concerns over the effects of fact-checking should move beyond a limited-effects approach (e.g., changing attitudes) to also include resisting misinformation and reinforcing accurate beliefs.

Keywords

fact-checking; inoculation theory; need for orientation; persuasion

How to Cite

Amazeen, M., Vargo, C., & Hopp, T. (2018). Reinforcing attitudes in a gatewatching news era: Individual–level antecedents to sharing fact–checks on social media. Communication Monographs, 86(1), 112–132. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637751.2018.1521984

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Version and Rights

This is the author preprint. For the final published version, see the DOI above.