NudgeCred: Supporting News Credibility Assessment on Social Media Through Nudges

Struggling to curb misinformation, social media platforms are experimenting with design interventions enhance consumption of credible news on their platforms. Some these interventions, such as the use warning messages, examples nudges---a choice-preserving technique steer behavior. Despite application, we do not know whether nudges could people into making conscious credibility judgments online and if they do, under what constraints. To answer, combine nudge techniques heuristic based information processing NudgeCred--a browser extension for Twitter. NudgeCred directs users' attention two cues: authority a source other collective opinion report by activating three nudges---Reliable, Questionable, Unreliable, each denoting particular levels tweets. In controlled experiment, found that significantly helped users (n=430) distinguish tweets' credibility, unrestricted behavioral confounds---political ideology, political cynicism, skepticism. A five-day field deployment twelve participants revealed improved recognition items towards all our nudges, particularly Questionable. Among considerations, proposed designers should incorporate heuristics would trust. Our work informs nudge-based system approaches media.