Promoting Knowledge in Social Media: Facebook’s Next Step

If you try to share a news article without opening it on Facebook, you may soon see a notification that encourages you to read it first. The prompt is currently being tested on the platform, with the goal of promoting more informed sharing.

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Facebook Prods Users to Read Before Sharing

Facebook wants you to look past the headline, and actually read the news article you’re about to share with your friends.

In a Tweet from the Facebook Newsroom, Facebook stated that it’s “testing a way to promote more informed sharing of news articles.” When users repost an article just based on its headline, they may be inadvertently promoting fake news, misinformation, or inflammatory content—Facebook intends to counteract this issue with its new prompt.

Now, if you try to share an article you haven’t opened on Facebook, you’ll see a notification that reads: “You’re about to share this article without opening it. Sharing articles without reading them may mean missing key facts.”

Facebook then gives you two ways to reply to this prompt: Open Article and Continue Sharing . In other words, you can choose to read the article you’re about to post, or continue to share it without reading.

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Twitter Already Unveiled a Similar Prompt

Facebook clearly took this prompt directly from Twitter’s playbook. In September 2020,Twitter launched a notification that appears when users try to Retweet an article they didn’t open. Surprisingly enough, Twitter saw some success with this feature—the prompt actually increased the likelihood of users reading the article before Retweeting it.

Twitter and Facebook have both been working to crack down on misinformation, with each employing similar measures to do so. The similarities in both platforms’ responses became especially prominent amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

WhileTwitter bans users who repeatedly post misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccines,Facebook removes posts containing false claims about the vaccines. With both platforms feeding off one another’s misinformation-fighting techniques, it’s no surprise that Facebook is also exploring a notification to promote informed sharing.

Will Facebook Ever Be Free of Misinformation?

Facebook’s new prompt will only make a tiny impact on a much larger problem. It’s likely that many users will end up sharing unread articles in the heat of the moment, especially if the headline is shocking enough.

And since Facebook can’t force you not to post certain things (unless it breaks Facebook’s rules), misinformation will always be an issue. That’s why it’s important to know how to identify misinformation, as well as how to find reliable news sources.

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