Interactions with Potential Mis/Disinformation URLs among U.S. Users on Facebook, 2017-2019

Abstract

Misinformation and disinformation online -and on social media in particular -have become a topic of widespread concern. Recently, Facebook and Social Science One released a large, unique, privacy-preserving dataset to researchers that contains data on URLs shared on Facebook in 2017-2019, including how users interacted with posts and demographic data from those users. We conduct an exploratory analysis of this data through the lens of mis/disinformation, finding that posts containing potential and known mis/disinformation URLs drew substantial user engagement. We also find that older and more politically conservative U.S. users were more likely to be exposed to (and ultimately re-share) potential mis/disinformation, but that those users who were exposed were roughly equally likely to click regardless of demographics. We discuss the implications of our findings for platform interventions and further study towards understanding and reducing the spread of mis/disinformation on social media.