The Effects of a News Literacy Video and Real-Time Corrections to Video Misinformation Related to Sunscreen and Skin Cancer

Abstract

Given concerns about the persuasive power of video misinformation on social media for health topics, we test two techniques – exposure to a news literacy video and user corrections – to limit the effects on misperceptions. An online sample of American adults from August of 2019 was randomly assigned to view two simulated Facebook videos. The first video manipulated the presence of news literacy concepts. The second video either promoted sunscreen use or made inaccurate claims regarding its dangers; scrolling comments either debunked or did not address the sunscreen misinformation in the video. Our results demonstrate that video misinformation heightened beliefs in sunscreen myths and reduced acceptance of sunscreen facts and intentions to wear sunscreen compared to a promotional video. Real-time user corrections were partially successful in reducing the effects of the misinformation video on beliefs but not intentions. Additionally, exposure to a news literacy video did not inoculate people to the misinformation. We discuss the implications of these findings for best practices regarding correcting video misinformation on health topics.