We’ve constantly used social media not only as a source of entertainment, but also as a means of connection and communication with family and friends, especially in long-distance situations. However, we also rely on these applications to get daily information about what is happening around us every second.
The heavy reliance on social media can be useful, but there are also harmful aspects that are akin to addiction or substance abuse. A paper titled “Problematic social media use is associated with believing in and engaging with fake news,” published in the online journal PLOS one, sheds light on one significant negative impact of overexposure to social media, primarily the quick acceptance of fake news.
Problematic social media use (PSMU) may not be an official diagnosis yet, but “ailments” are similar to those of addiction, including withdrawal symptoms when a user is unable to use social media for even just a short break.
Co-author Dar Meshi of Michigan State University explains that these struggles with addiction may impact decision-making capabilities because a person cannot even control when to stop or pause between uses.
Meshi, an expert in subjects involving risky decision-making, impulse, and PSMU, collaborated with his colleague, Maria Molina, whose field is information and disinformation. The former raised his hypothesis that there might be a link between PSMU and the way netizens perceive the information they see online.
The study’s methods and procedure
To proceed with the study, the researchers invited 189 college students to participate in answering a questionnaire regarding their social media habits, focusing on measuring actions such as clicking links, liking or reacting, and commenting on posts.
As previously mentioned, PSMU is not yet recognized as a psychological disorder, but Meshi made use of the six core biopsychological components of addiction in the research, including withdrawal, relapses, changes in mood, and tolerance.
Afterward, the researchers had their participants read 20 non-political news stories, using social media posts as a medium to convey the information. These stories contain 10 false news stories and 10 legitimate ones, where the participant is asked to answer seven questions at the end of each read.
The first three questions ask the respondent to gauge whether the story read was accurate and authentic; the last four were more to measure possible engagement by asking the student the likelihood of clicking or generally interacting with the posts. One added twist by the researchers was to include attention checks to observe whether the students were merely clicking on answers randomly, without considering the questions and their responses.
The truth in Meshi’s theory
In the end, Meshi and Molina were able to make ends meet with their fields of expertise, as the overall study proved that participants who exhibited PSMU were prone to accepting fake news as true.
The more the subject has an over-reliance on social media, the more he/she quickly take the bait on whether it is fake or authentic news. The worst part is the automatic spreading of content through sharing, which propagates false news alongside accurate and well-researched information.
Meshi comments that this is only the beginning of the research efforts, particularly in the relationship between social media and the psychological field. In the future, Meshi hopes to explore the underlying mechanisms, especially those related to the brain’s reward system, which also plays a crucial role in decision-making.
On a final note, Meshi does not portray social media as completely bad; in fact, it has become an extremely important part of our present world. He does point out that, like other addictive aspects of life such as drinking, there should be control unless it becomes abuse and unhealthy.