David G. Rand

Research on accuracy prompts offers a modest but useful intervention.

Gordon Pennycock, David Rand, and colleagues found that briefly directing attention toward accuracy before people made sharing decisions could improve the quality of material participants said they would share.

The intervention did not transform ideology or eliminate every false belief.

It changed which goal was active at the moment of choice.

And we must always remember that confirmation bias creeps in where it's least desired.

Researchers Gordon Pennycook and David Rand have found something almost embarrassingly simple in studies of misinformation.

Merely redirecting people's attention toward accuracy, can improve discernment about what they share.

In other words, before asking, is this terrifying? Is this fascinating? Does this explain everything? Ask, is this true? And Joan, you don't have to investigate every single possibility.