Can a YouTube ad change your mind about disinformation? - The Verge
A study from researchers at the University of Cambridge and Google’s Jigsaw division, among other places, finds that "prebunking" videos could be useful for fighting disinformation.
“Prebunking” false information with short videos could nudge people to be more critical of it, suggests a new study from researchers at the University of Cambridge and Google’s Jigsaw division. The study is part of ongoing work in the field of mis- and disinformation, and it’s encouraging news for researchers hoping to improve the online information ecosystem — albeit with many caveats.
The Jigsaw and Cambridge study — which also involved researchers from the University of Bristol and the University of Western Australia, Perth — is one of several attempts to “inoculate” or “prebunk” people against disinformation instead of debunking it after the fact. Published in Science Advances, it recounts the impact of a video series about common tactics often used to spread false information, including scapegoating, false dichotomies, and appeals to emotion.
The roughly 90-second videos didn’t discuss specific false narratives or whether a given piece of information was factual. They typically used absurd or funny examples drawn from pop culture, including Family Guy or Star Wars. (Anakin Skywalker’s claim that “if you’re not with me, then you’re my enemy” is a classic false dichotomy.) The goal was to highlight red flags that might short-circuit people’s critical evaluation of a social media post or video, then to see if that translated into wider recognition of those tactics. Avoiding factual claims also meant viewers weren’t judging whether they trusted the source of those facts.
“We wanted to remove any of the possible politicization that has sort of been confounding the question,” says Jigsaw head of research and development Beth Goldberg.
Prebunking has been promoted as an anti-misinformation strategy for years, especially after research suggested that fact-checking and corrections might not change people’s minds and can even backfire. (Some of this research is disputed.) But as with other tactics, researchers are still in the early stages of measuring its effectiveness, particularly on social media.
Rating: 5