Disallow Sharing of Unclicked Links

Goal: Cut down on the spread of misinformation Evidence rating (PDN): Emergent Civic signal: Understand — Show reliable information When to use: Interactive

What it is

When a user attempts to "share" or "retweet" or equivalent the platform detects whether or not you've clicked the link (and possibly spent any time on the link, if that's technically feasible to track). If the user hasn't, then the platform does not allow them to share the link, and may offer a popup or dialogue to share why.

Intended impact

The intention is to encourage people to think about the content they are sharing and increase the likelihood for them to decide not to share things that look questionable with further examination (e.g., headlines that aren't actually backed up by the content of the article). Since misinformation is easier to identify by reading a full article than just by reading a snippet or headline, this intervention could cut down on the sharing of misinformation.

Evidence that it works

Twitter has started doing this and has tweeted short claims to its effectiveness. Since this is a promotion of their own product, we would like to see more detailed data and methodology, ideally from an independent source.

Why it matters

There is evidence that sharing unopened links, and therefore unread content, is pervasive.

A 2016 study from computer scientists at Columbia University and Microsoft found that 59% of links posted on Twitter are never clicked.

The creation of user friction in these cases should, as Twitter has deduced, allow for more informed discussions and preempt the spread of hoaxes and disinformation.

Special considerations

Examples

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This intervention entry currently lacks photographic evidence (screencaps, &c.)

Citations

• *Social Clicks: What and Who Gets Read on Twitter?* — Maksym Gabielkov, Arthi Ramachandran, Augustin Chaintreau, Arnaud Legout (Proc. of ACM SIGMETRICS'16, April 13, 2016). https://doi.org/10.1145/2896377.2901462

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From the Prosocial Design Network's Digital Intervention Library (https://www.prosocialdesign.org/library/disallow-sharing-of-unclicked-links), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Reformatted for the RT Commons; text otherwise as published. Library citation: Prosocial Design Network (2024), Digital Intervention Library, https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/Q4RMB. Anything built from this pattern should credit the Prosocial Design Network and the researchers cited above.

Details

• goal: Cut down on the spread of misinformation
• citations: [object Object]
• image alt: A mockup of a prompt that reminds users that "Headlines Don't Tell The Full Story".
• image url: https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/647f696dc653a97c26f42a0b/647f696dc653a97c26f42b22_sharing-2.png
• pdn rating: Emergent
• when to use: Interactive
• civic signal: Understand
• pdn library doi: 10.17605/OSF.IO/Q4RMB
• civic signal goal: Show reliable information