Differential impact from individual versus collective misinformation tagging on the diversity of Twitter (X) information engagement and mobility
Abstract Fears about the destabilizing impact of misinformation online have motivated individuals and platforms to respond. Individuals have increasingly challenged others’ online claims with fact-checks in pursuit of a healthier information ecosystem and to break down echo chambers of self-reinforc...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-55868-0 |
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| _version_ | 1832585591761403904 |
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| author | Junsol Kim Zhao Wang Haohan Shi Hsin-Keng Ling James Evans |
| author_facet | Junsol Kim Zhao Wang Haohan Shi Hsin-Keng Ling James Evans |
| author_sort | Junsol Kim |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Fears about the destabilizing impact of misinformation online have motivated individuals and platforms to respond. Individuals have increasingly challenged others’ online claims with fact-checks in pursuit of a healthier information ecosystem and to break down echo chambers of self-reinforcing opinion. Using Twitter (now X) data, here we show the consequences of individual misinformation tagging: tagged posters had explored novel political information and expanded topical interests immediately prior, but being tagged caused posters to retreat into information bubbles. These unintended consequences were softened by a collective verification system for misinformation moderation. In Twitter’s new feature, Community Notes, misinformation tagging was peer-reviewed by other fact-checkers before revelation to the poster. With collective misinformation tagging, posters were less likely to retreat from diverse information engagement. Detailed comparison demonstrated differences in toxicity, sentiment, readability, and delay in individual versus collective misinformation tagging messages. These findings provide evidence for differential impacts from individual versus collective moderation strategies on the diversity of information engagement and mobility across the information ecosystem. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-bf14acac58e747dc8235913958dea41c |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-bf14acac58e747dc8235913958dea41c2025-01-26T12:40:18ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-01-0116111410.1038/s41467-025-55868-0Differential impact from individual versus collective misinformation tagging on the diversity of Twitter (X) information engagement and mobilityJunsol Kim0Zhao Wang1Haohan Shi2Hsin-Keng Ling3James Evans4Department of Sociology, University of ChicagoComputational Social Science, University of ChicagoSchool of Communication, Northwestern UniversityDepartment of Sociology, University of MichiganDepartment of Sociology, University of ChicagoAbstract Fears about the destabilizing impact of misinformation online have motivated individuals and platforms to respond. Individuals have increasingly challenged others’ online claims with fact-checks in pursuit of a healthier information ecosystem and to break down echo chambers of self-reinforcing opinion. Using Twitter (now X) data, here we show the consequences of individual misinformation tagging: tagged posters had explored novel political information and expanded topical interests immediately prior, but being tagged caused posters to retreat into information bubbles. These unintended consequences were softened by a collective verification system for misinformation moderation. In Twitter’s new feature, Community Notes, misinformation tagging was peer-reviewed by other fact-checkers before revelation to the poster. With collective misinformation tagging, posters were less likely to retreat from diverse information engagement. Detailed comparison demonstrated differences in toxicity, sentiment, readability, and delay in individual versus collective misinformation tagging messages. These findings provide evidence for differential impacts from individual versus collective moderation strategies on the diversity of information engagement and mobility across the information ecosystem.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-55868-0 |
| spellingShingle | Junsol Kim Zhao Wang Haohan Shi Hsin-Keng Ling James Evans Differential impact from individual versus collective misinformation tagging on the diversity of Twitter (X) information engagement and mobility Nature Communications |
| title | Differential impact from individual versus collective misinformation tagging on the diversity of Twitter (X) information engagement and mobility |
| title_full | Differential impact from individual versus collective misinformation tagging on the diversity of Twitter (X) information engagement and mobility |
| title_fullStr | Differential impact from individual versus collective misinformation tagging on the diversity of Twitter (X) information engagement and mobility |
| title_full_unstemmed | Differential impact from individual versus collective misinformation tagging on the diversity of Twitter (X) information engagement and mobility |
| title_short | Differential impact from individual versus collective misinformation tagging on the diversity of Twitter (X) information engagement and mobility |
| title_sort | differential impact from individual versus collective misinformation tagging on the diversity of twitter x information engagement and mobility |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-55868-0 |
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