TY - GEN
T1 - User Correction of Misinformation on Social Media
T2 - 24th IFIP WG 6.11 Conference on e-Business, e-Services and e-Society, I3E 2025
AU - Noman, Muaadh
AU - Alam, Firoj
AU - Ali, Raian
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© IFIP International Federation for Information Processing 2026.
PY - 2026
Y1 - 2026
N2 - This study investigates social media users’ intention to engage in user correction, that is, challenging others who post misinformation; whether this intention translates into actual behaviour; their choice of communication styles (direct or indirect) when doing so; and the influence of psychological and competency factors on that. It specifically examines the influence of the personal factors of altruism (viewing user correction as a pro-social act), empathy (as it involves correcting someone and protecting others), self-esteem (as it requires taking a stand), and social media use competency across two distinct cultural contexts: the United Kingdom (UK) and Arab Peninsula countries. Data were collected through an online survey, supported by vignettes, of 686 participants (367 British and 319 Arabs). The findings revealed a significant intention–behaviour gap in user correction across both samples. Participants in both cultural groups showed a stronger preference for indirect communication styles over direct ones. Multivariate Multiple Regression (MMR) analysis indicated that altruism and social media use competency consistently predicted both the intention to participate in and actual participation in user correction in both cultural groups. However, self-esteem significantly predicted actual participation only among UK participants, while empathy showed no significant association in either sample. Further MMR analysis revealed cultural differences in the predictors of communication style choice. In the UK, both altruism and self-esteem predicted preferences for both direct and indirect styles. In the Arab sample, social media use competency predicted a preference for the direct style, while both altruism and social media use competency predicted a preference for the indirect style. These findings highlight the critical role of cultural and psychosocial nuances in designing socio-technical interventions to promote user correction and combat the spread of misinformation.
AB - This study investigates social media users’ intention to engage in user correction, that is, challenging others who post misinformation; whether this intention translates into actual behaviour; their choice of communication styles (direct or indirect) when doing so; and the influence of psychological and competency factors on that. It specifically examines the influence of the personal factors of altruism (viewing user correction as a pro-social act), empathy (as it involves correcting someone and protecting others), self-esteem (as it requires taking a stand), and social media use competency across two distinct cultural contexts: the United Kingdom (UK) and Arab Peninsula countries. Data were collected through an online survey, supported by vignettes, of 686 participants (367 British and 319 Arabs). The findings revealed a significant intention–behaviour gap in user correction across both samples. Participants in both cultural groups showed a stronger preference for indirect communication styles over direct ones. Multivariate Multiple Regression (MMR) analysis indicated that altruism and social media use competency consistently predicted both the intention to participate in and actual participation in user correction in both cultural groups. However, self-esteem significantly predicted actual participation only among UK participants, while empathy showed no significant association in either sample. Further MMR analysis revealed cultural differences in the predictors of communication style choice. In the UK, both altruism and self-esteem predicted preferences for both direct and indirect styles. In the Arab sample, social media use competency predicted a preference for the direct style, while both altruism and social media use competency predicted a preference for the indirect style. These findings highlight the critical role of cultural and psychosocial nuances in designing socio-technical interventions to promote user correction and combat the spread of misinformation.
KW - Communication Styles
KW - Misinformation
KW - Psychosocial Factors
KW - Social Correction
KW - Social Media
KW - User Correction
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105019180640
U2 - 10.1007/978-3-032-06164-5_29
DO - 10.1007/978-3-032-06164-5_29
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:105019180640
SN - 9783032061638
T3 - Lecture Notes in Computer Science
SP - 409
EP - 422
BT - Pervasive Digital Services for People’s Well-Being, Inclusion and Sustainable Development - 24th IFIP WG 6.11 Conference on e-Business, e-Services and e-Society, I3E 2025, Proceedings
A2 - Achilleos, Achilleas
A2 - Forti, Stefano
A2 - Papadopoulos, George Angelos
A2 - Pappas, Ilias
PB - Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Y2 - 9 September 2025 through 11 September 2025
ER -