How to fight fakes online? Scientists have found one surprisingly simple way

Have you ever noticed how hard it is online to get someone to believe the facts when they've already decided they know better? Researchers from Oxford and MIT conducted an unusual experiment and found that the most important thing you can do to successfully combat fakes is... simple attention and goodwill.

Details: Cameron Martel et al, Promoting engagement with social fact-checks online: Investigating the roles of social connection and shared partisanship, PLOS ONE (2025). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0319336

For a long time, it was thought that the key to persuasion was when information was given to you by someone with the same political views. But a new study has proven: it's not politics that matters, but social connection.

🔍 What exactly did the scientists find out?

The study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, combined two approaches:

• 🐦 A real-world experiment in X (Twitter).

• 📊 A controlled survey.

It turned out that people were much more likely to respond to verified facts if the person who posted them had previously shown at least some interest in them - by liking, subscribing or leaving a comment.

At the same time, it turns out that the same political views are not as important as expected. Even if fact-checking is posted by someone with opposing beliefs, minimal friendliness still increases the chances of being heard.

🧠 Why it works

It's all about psychology: people tend to respond to attention with attention. It's a social norm - if someone likes or comments on your post, you feel like you should reciprocate. This is how the mechanism of engagement and trust works on the internet.

⚠️ There are exceptions:

There are exceptions, however: particularly politically active users are more likely to ignore fact-checking from their opponents, even if those opponents were friendly. For such people, signalling political affiliation is still a barrier.

🌟 What to do with this information?

Those who struggle with fakes and misinformation on the Internet should use a simple and proven method:

• First make contact.

• Then share the information.

This applies not only to people, but also to algorithms on social networks. The more social interaction, the higher the chance you'll be heard.

📌 Short and sweet:

Fighting fakes is not only about accuracy of facts, but also about human relationships and gestures, even small ones like a single like or a short comment. Sometimes even a small gesture of attention can change a person's mind.