🌅 Today’s stat: 75%

SOURCE
WHAT TO KNOW
  • Researchers at Penn State University analyzed 35 million Facebook posts, finding people share news stories without reading them around 75% of the time. People were even more likely to share a news story without reading it first when the story aligned with their political beliefs (both liberal and conservative).

WHY IT MATTERS
  • The “share first, read later (if ever)” behavior can help misinformation spread across social networks as users amplify content based on things like headlines, captions, and engagement, rather than the information itself.

CONNECT THE DOTS
  • People who share news stories without vetting the information may be unwittingly contributing to disinformation campaigns by foreign adversaries, like Russia’s attempts to interfere in European and U.S. elections by sowing division and doubt on social media.