Reconsidering Misinformation in WhatsApp Groups: Informational and Social Predictors of Risk Perceptions and Corrections

Authors

  • Ozan Kuru National University of Singapore
  • Scott W. Campbell University of Michigan
  • Joseph B. Bayer Ohio State University
  • Lemi Baruh Koç University
  • Richard S. Ling Nanyang Technological University

Keywords:

messaging applications, WhatsApp, messaging groups, trust, risk perceptions, social corrections, structural equation modeling

Abstract

In a survey study of WhatsApp users across 3 different countries (N = 3,664), we tested how misinformation processes on messaging apps are driven by the levels of information shared versus social dynamics within messaging groups. Integrating recent perspectives, we offer a conceptual model that distinguishes (1) the informational activity of users and (2) trust among group members as predictors of misinformation outcomes within WhatsApp groups. Specifically, we focus on how content-sharing practices of users and characteristics of messaging groups (size, type, homogeneity) explain information exposure and group trust, which then predict misinformation risk perceptions and corrections. Structural equation models revealed that contributing content (vs. checking content) positively predicted (mis)information exposure, which then positively predicted risk perceptions and social corrections. Additionally, smaller, closer, and homogeneous groups were associated with greater group trust, which then predicted lower risk perceptions and, concurrently, more social corrections. Overall, the study shows the value of testing informational and social pathways in parallel.

Author Biographies

Ozan Kuru, National University of Singapore

Assistant Professor, Department of Communications and New Media, Principle Investigator, Centre for Trusted Internet and Community, National University of Singapore, Singapore. Blk AS6, 03-41, 11 Computing Drive, Singapore, 117416.Ozan Kuru is an Assistant Professor of Digital Media in Department of Communications and New Media and a Principle Investigator at the Centre for Trusted Internet and Community at the National University of Singapore. He received in PhD in Communication at the University of Michigan and worked as the Howard Deshong Postdoctoral Fellow at the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. He is broadly interested in individuals’ engagement with digital technology and information about politics, health and science in a cross-national context with a particular focus on public opinion.

Scott W. Campbell, University of Michigan

Constance F. and Arnold C. Pohs Professor of Telecommunications, Department of Communication and Media, University of Michigan, United States. 5376 North Quad, 105 S. State St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1285, the United States. Scott W. Campbell, PhD is the Pohs Professor of Telecommunications and Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Michigan. His scholarship uses mixed methods to explain the uses and consequences of mobile media and communication for everyday life. Before joining Michigan, Campbell spent three years on faculty at Hawaii Pacific University. Prior to his academic life, he worked at Sprint PCS when they launched the first national digital mobile network in the United States.

Joseph B. Bayer, Ohio State University

Assistant Professor, School of Communication and Translational Data Analytics Institute, The Ohio State University, United States. 3016 Derby Hall, 154 N Oval Mall, Columbus, OH 43210, the United States. Joseph B. Bayer is an Assistant Professor in the School of Communication and Translational Data Analytics Institute at The Ohio State University. He studies how people think about their social networks and communication technologies, along with the implications for individual well-being and societal change. In turn, his research aims to clarify how social cognition is changing in combination with mobile and social media. His work has been published in cross-disciplinary journals such as Communication Theory, Annual Review of Psychology, and Nature Human Behavior.

Lemi Baruh, Koç University

Associate Professor, Department of Media and Visual Arts, Koc University, Turkey. SOS 226, Rumelifeneri Yolu 34450 Sarıyer İstanbul, TurkeyLemi Baruh, (Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania, Annenberg School for Communication, 2007) is an Associate Professor at the Department of Media and Visual Arts at Koç University in Turkey. Lemi Baruh’s research interests include new media technologies, particularly focusing on social media, identity, surveillance, and privacy.

Richard S. Ling, Nanyang Technological University

Shaw Foundation Professor of Media Technology, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, 639798, Singapore. Rich Ling (Ph.D., University of Colorado, sociology) is the Shaw Foundation Professor of Media Technology, at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. For the past two decades, Ling has studied the social consequences of mobile communication and written The mobile connection (Morgan Kaufmann, 2004), New Tech, New Ties (MIT, 2008) and Taken for grantedness (MIT, 2012). He is the editor in chief of the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, and a founding co-editor of Mobile Media and Communication and other series. He has been elected as a member of Academia Europaea, Det Norske Vitenskaps Akademi and a fellow of the ICA.

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Published

2023-03-13

Issue

Vol. 17 (2023)

Section

Articles

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