Social media may hinder learning about science; social media's role in learning about COVID-19

Abstract

Despite widespread concerns that misinformation is rampant on social media, little systematic and empirical research has been conducted on whether and how news consumption via social media affects people's accurate knowledge about COVID-19. Against this background, this study examines the causal effects of social media use on COVID-19 knowledge (i.e., both in the form of factual knowledge and misinformation detection) as well as the underlying mechanisms through which such effects occur. Based on original panel survey data across six weeks (W₁ N = 1,363, W₂ N = 752) in the U.S., we found that consuming news from social media fostered the perception that one need not actively seek news anymore because it would reach them anyway through their social connections (i.e., "news-finds-me" perception). This, in turn, can make one both uninformed and misinformed about COVID-19 issues. Furthermore, this mediated relationship is stronger among those who experience higher levels of information overload while on social media.

Keywords: COVID-19; Health knowledge; Misinformation; News-finds-me perception; Science knowledge; Social media.

Fig. 1

Measurement Model Assessment Notes. The values above the arrows indicate factor loadings. The values inside the circles indicate the AVEs of the constructs.

Fig. 2

Results of the PLS-SEM model.