Misinformation has become a huge problem on social media platforms, the challenge is to to design a new outcome that is different to the current solutions.
I have designed a system that requires the user to pause and think before sharing content on social media platforms. This can be done in two different ways, queuing and reply and share.
To gain a better understanding on how Lapse's system works on users. I decided to conduct an user testing. The purpose of this testing is to find out whether Lapse's "pause and think" system works.
I will be showing the users five posts on Facebook that are supposed shared by their friends or family member. Users will choose one content they would like to share. After they made their choices, I will be asking them behavioural questions.
The tested users will be divided into two groups. The Control group will choose the content and answer the questions. The Treatment group will be told whether the content they chose is misinformation and answer the behavioural question again after 30 minutes.
• Users mostly share content they think is beneficial to others. • They choose the content because it is somewhat related to their personal life, either career, family or interests. • If given the time to the user, and also tell the user they shared is misinformation, most of the users are willing to delete the post they just made. • Most users still do not check the misinformation before sharing. Instead of correcting misinformation, they would simply ignore the content.
My testing has shown that most of my tested users show motivation that they want to help others when sharing content on social media. User's are willing to delete their post if they discovered it is misinformation. Therefore proves that Lapse's "pause and think" system works, but I also suggest that it should combine with fact checkers to help identify misinformation.