Users sharing articles on social media without reading can make them think they're experts: Study

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A lot of people are influenced by social media today and are constantly sharing articles on the different mediums. However, a new study has found that sharing such articles when people haven't even read them can lead people to think they are experts on the topic and that can be a risky situation.

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 in the US.

"When people feel they're more knowledgeable, they're more likely to make riskier decisions," said assistant professor Adrian Ward.

The study, published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, said that 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," the findings showed.

To reach this conclusion, Susan M Broniarczyk and Ward Broniarczyk conducted several studies.

They found that people internalise their sharing into the self-concept, which leads them to believe they are as knowledgeable as their posts make them appear.

"Participants thought they knew more when their sharing publicly committed them to an expert identity: when sharing under their own identity versus an alias, when sharing with friends versus strangers, and when they had free choice in choosing what to share," said the study.

The research suggests there's merit to social media companies that have piloted ways to encourage people to read articles before sharing.

"If people feel more knowledgeable on a topic, they also feel they maybe don't need to read or learn additional information on that topic," Broniarczyk said. "This miscalibrated sense of knowledge can be hard to correct."

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