ScienceDaily: Sharing on social media makes us overconfident in our knowledge, study finds
“Sharing news articles with friends and followers on social media can prompt people to think they know more about the articles' topics than they actually do, according to a new study from researchers at The University of Texas at Austin.
Social media sharers believe that they are knowledgeable about the content they share, even if they have not read it or have only glanced at a headline. Sharing can create this rise in confidence because by putting information online, sharers publicly commit to an expert identity. Doing so shapes their sense of self, helping them to feel just as knowledgeable as their post makes them seem.
This is especially true when sharing with close friends, according to a new paper from Susan M. Broniarczyk, professor of marketing, and Adrian Ward, assistant professor of marketing, at UT's McCombs School of Business.
The research is online in advance in the Journal of Consumer Psychology. The findings are relevant in a world in which it's simple to share content online without reading it. Recent data from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism show only 51% of consumers who "read" an online news story actually read the whole article, while 26% read part, and 22% looked at just the headline or a few lines.”
Some Insights From This Article
Posting on social media about articles and certain types of content may cause us to be overconfident in our knowledge about the topic and the information associated with it. Additionally many people who post the said article go about not even reading the entire thing, instead of reading a gist by skimming through the article before coming to their own conclusions.
This may explain why people may be quick to defend the things that someone else posts when a critical comment or remark is said about the said post. We tend to post things that align with our views and what we believe as true for us, this tendency may be causing such reactions.
When posting articles such as this post itself, it’s important to understand that not everyone around you may not hold your same mindset or opinion. Therefore carrying this mindset can facilitate healthy conversations and discussions about the topic and help us continue to learn!
What are some ways you can counter overconfidence in your own knowledge?
Full article is here!
#Overconfidence #SocialMedia #Knowledge
@sunnyWriting4806
Great post!
I think it is important to full read an article, to fully comprehend it.
Additionally, it is important to keep an open-mindset and be willing to see other peoples perspectives!
Thanks for sharing! :D💛✨
@innateJoy9602
Yup! It's important to be aware of our biases when we post things and engage in discussion.
@sunnyWriting4806 It's true! It's important to realize that some articles are just inforative and we need more knowledge to develop a general opinion about a topic. Also understanding research sources and the way a reasearch is conducted is extremely important to estimate the validity of a result. Our environment and the human brain are so complicated and that's why further research on the same topic can have completely different results! Thank you for the great post!
@calmDew1576
Yes there are so many confounding variables in the world that we must simply account for if we are able to do diligent and good research!