Why Students Share Misinformation on Social Media: Motivation, Gender, and Study-level Differences

The increasing use of social media for information sharing has elevated the need for information literacy (IL) education to prepare students to be effective information creators and communicators. One concern is that students sometimes indiscriminately forward misinformation. Understanding the reasons behind misinformation sharing would help the development of IL intervention strategies. Guided by the Uses and Gratifications approach and rumor research, undergraduate and graduate students in Singapore were surveyed on why they share misinformation on social media. Gender and study-level differences were investigated. Over 60% of respondents had shared misinformation. The top reasons were related to the information's perceived characteristics, as well as self-expression and socializing. Accuracy and authoritativeness did not rank highly. Women had a higher prevalence of sharing and intention to share misinformation. Undergraduate and graduate students differed in their reasons for sharing misinformation. The former share (and intend to share) more misinformation than the latter, but the difference was not statistically significant. Because many of the reasons cited were social in nature, IL training should address the social motivations propelling such behavior. Social media systems may also develop features that encourage users to flag debunked postings and allow a correction to be displayed alongside the misinformation.