Singapore – Narcissistic individuals having social media fatigue are more likely to share misinformation.
This was according to the study by the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Singapore.
The study was based on more than 8,000 survey responses from participants in Singapore, the United States, Malaysia, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
Published in the journal Scientific Reports, the study was done in collaboration with Muhammad Ehab Rasul, a PhD student at the University of California, Davis.
The study also found that people who say they are tired or overwhelmed by social media are likelier to believe in misinformation and share it online.
Given that millions of users depend on social media as a source of news and entertainment and a mode of communication, researchers said it is important to address social media fatigue and its consequences.
Many societies have recognized the importance of reduced social media usage for improved physical and mental health.
However, relatively little attention has been given to the dangerous impact of social media usage on the information ecosystem.
“Social media fatigue creates an information overload that hampers the cognitive judgment of social media users. In such circumstances, individuals become overwhelmed and struggle to critically evaluate the misinformation they encounter, whether it pertains to COVID-19 or other topics,” said NTU Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information’s Assistant Professor Saifuddin Ahmed.
He further explained this effect of social media fatigue by highlighting how social media algorithms function.
They prioritize controversial, sensational, and emotionally charged content.
“Being exposed repeatedly to such content may cause individuals to perceive it as accurate,” added Ahmed.
“Through our study, we have shown that individuals can unintentionally contribute to disseminating misinformation due to their cognitive ability and ‘dark’ personality traits such as narcissism. Such insights could be leveraged to shape preventive measures, emphasizing the importance of social media literacy and initiatives to mitigate social media fatigue,” he stressed.
The survey participants were first assessed for their social media fatigue by asking them to rate their level of agreement with five statements concerning their social media use, such as whether they feel mentally exhausted or too tired to perform other tasks due to social media use.
After this, they were then asked to rate the accuracy of a series of false claims about COVID-19, presented in a mock social media post style, and their likelihood of sharing these claims.
An example of a post includes: “Coconut is effective in reducing COVID-19 symptoms.” Another read: “COVID-19 vaccinations are dangerous and ineffective against Omicron variants.”
Then the participants were examined for cognitive ability through a 10-item vocabulary test that is strongly associated with general measures of intelligence and is used frequently in scientific research as a proxy to examine intelligence. They were also evaluated for behavioral traits that suggest narcissism through a personality inventory test.
Cognitive skills are designed to determine an individual’s ability to analyze information critically. Researchers explained that narcissism is characterized by an increased desire for attention, admiration, and feelings of uniqueness, which may increase an individual’s propensity to share misinformation.
Using statistical analyses the researchers learned that survey participants from all eight countries who experience social media fatigue are more likely to fall for misinformation. However, the results of sharing misinformation are more nuanced.
For instance in Singapore, whether an individual with social media fatigue shares misinformation depends on whether they think the misinformation is accurate.
In the remaining seven countries, those who experience higher levels of social media fatigue can share misinformation regardless of accuracy.
Based on the findings, researchers have likewise recommended policymakers and social media companies wanting to fight misinformation to adopt a so-called “multi-pronged approach,” which involves regulations to restrict the spread of misinformation and raise digital literacy, but also interventions aimed at reducing social media fatigue.
“This will not only directly address the issue of fatigue but may also limit misinformation propagation because of the
fatigue,” said the researchers.
There’s also the need for interventions tailored to specific groups instead of a one-size-fits-all approach given the findings that individuals with particular personality and cognitive traits are more susceptible to misinformation propagation than others. (Marlon Luistro)
