Socio-Technical Interventions to Promote User Correction of Misinformation on Social Media

Abstract

The widespread dissemination of misinformation on social media is a growing concern. A promising approach to counteract this issue is to foster user correction, where users correct misinformation posted by others. This thesis investigates social media users’ willingness to engage in user correction; whether this willingness translates into actual behaviour; their choice of communication styles (direct or indirect) when doing so; and the influence of personal, social, and technological factors on that across two distinct cultural contexts: the United Kingdom (UK) and Arab countries. We employ survey-based and experimental studies to examine these factors and evaluate persuasive design interventions. Analysis of the impact of negative consequences and injunctive norms on users’ willingness revealed significant cross-cultural differences between UK and Arab participants for negative consequences, but not in injunctive norms. Further analysis identified distinct predictors for users’ willingness in each cultural context: in the UK, negative impact on the person being challenged and injunctive norms were significant predictors, whereas in Arab countries, relationship cost was a significant predictor. The thesis also compares the persuasiveness of seven design techniques to increase willingness to engage in user correction across both cultures. Nearly all techniques were more impactful in the Arab context than in the UK context. Compared to the standard comment box, some techniques were more persuasive in both cultures, while others were more persuasive only in one context. Personality traits, age, and perspective-taking showed varying impacts on the techniques’ persuasiveness across both contexts. An investigation of the communication styles revealed that Arab participants were more likely than their UK counterparts to use the direct correction style. Social factors influenced corrective behaviours in both groups. Participants were less likely to correct those of a different gender, higher status, or those socially distant from them. The gender factor played a significant role in the UK context only. Further analysis indicated that altruism predicted preference for both direct and indirect correction styles in both contexts, self-esteem played a more prominent role in the UK context, and social media use competency did so in the Arab context. Finally, the thesis proposed and evaluated a culturally sensitive intervention that utilised insights from the preceding findings to encourage user correction. Overall, the findings highlight the need to consider the multifaceted interplay of personal, social, and cultural factors in designing user correction solutions.

Date of Award	2026
Original language	American English
Awarding Institution	HBKU College of Science and Engineering