Altering Instrumental Learning on Social Media to Make Accuracy a Social Currency

Misinformation thrives on social media due to instrumental learning, as users sharing interesting content receive rewards of liking and attention from others. In a pretest and three studies (N = 1,874), we curbed misinformation by altering the reward structure to include another basic feature of social perception, competence and credibility. In Experiment 1, incentives for sharing accurate (vs. likable) content improved veracity discernment. Studies 2 and 3 introduced a "trust" button as an instrumental reward for accurate sharing. Trust feedback from others significantly reduced the sharing of interesting misinformation by providing social rewards that taught users to prioritize accuracy. Unlike interventions that rely on individuals to evaluate and prioritize accuracy themselves, altering social media design with trust rewards reshapes behavior through direct social feedback. This learning effect strengthens with more frequent social media use, suggesting that integrating trust-based feedback mechanisms could effectively reduce misinformation sharing.