Social Work

The processing and evaluation of news content on social media is influenced by peer-user commentary

A. B. Boot, K. Dijkstra, et al.

Discover how Likes and peer-user comments shape our perceptions of online news in this intriguing study by Arnout B. Boot, Katinka Dijkstra, and Rolf A. Zwaan. The research uncovers the powerful influence of negative comments on reader attitudes, credibility, and share intent, highlighting the psychology behind our online interactions.

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Playback language: English

Index

Abstract

This study investigated whether the processing and evaluation of online news content can be influenced by Likes and peer-user comments. An online experiment using a Facebook-like website explored how Likes, positive comments, negative comments, or a combination affected reader processing. Results showed negative comments significantly affected readers' opinions, inducing more negative attitudes, lowering share intent, reducing agreement with ideas, lowering perceived public attitude, and decreasing credibility. Likes had no effect. The persuasive effect of negative comments, which comprised subjective, emotive, and fallacious rhetoric, is discussed in terms of negativity bias, perceived expert authority, and cognitive heuristics.

Publisher

Humanities & Social Sciences Communications

Published On

Sep 10, 2021

Authors

Arnout B. Boot, Katinka Dijkstra, Rolf A. Zwaan

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