How can we empower social media users to better discern the veracity of news and share less false news? This survey experiment (N = 636) assessed the effectiveness of two interventions—signing a Pro-Truth Pledge and utilizing a Fact-Checking Guide. Results showed that utilizing the Fact-Checking Guide increased skepticism of news posts, likelihood to verify news posts, verification engagement, and reduced intention to share news without regard to news veracity. Before and after comparisons indicated that after verification engagement activities, truth and sharing discernment improved with higher factual accuracy ratings for true news, lower accuracy ratings for false news, and a greater likelihood to share true news compared to false news. Individual’s engagement in verification was identified as a crucial mechanism through which the Fact-Checking Guide intervention led to better truth and sharing discernment. The study could inform social media designs that promote a truthful news environment.

中文翻译：

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赋予社交媒体用户权力：推动自我验证，以提高真相并分享洞察力

我们如何才能让社交媒体用户更好地辨别新闻的真实性并减少虚假新闻的传播？这项调查实验（N = 636）评估了两种干预措施的有效性——签署支持真相承诺和利用事实核查指南。结果表明，使用事实核查指南会增加对新闻帖子的怀疑、核实新闻帖子的可能性、核实参与度，并减少不考虑新闻真实性而分享新闻的意愿。前后比较表明，在验证参与活动之后，真相和分享辨别力得到改善，真实新闻的事实准确性评级较高，虚假新闻的准确性评级较低，与虚假新闻相比，分享真实新闻的可能性更大。个人参与核查被认为是事实核查指南干预带来更好真相和分享洞察力的关键机制。这项研究可以为促进真实新闻环境的社交媒体设计提供信息。