“How Eye-Catching Social Media Feeds Steer Attention Toward Misinformation, New Study Finds” — what this page in the network covers. Social media feeds are designed to grab attention, but new research led by Jiyoung Lee, a professor in the Department of Media and Communication, reveals that visually striking content may make users more susceptible to misinformation. The study, conducted with international researchers, examined how visual contrast—the difference in brightness, color, and complexity between adjacent posts—affects users' ability to detect false information. The findings show that when a feed contains high visual contrast, users are slower to identify misinformation.
This is because the brain's attention is drawn to the most visually salient elements, leaving less cognitive resources to evaluate the accuracy of the content. In other words, the very features that make social media engaging may also impair our critical thinking. This listing links straight to the original page, where the content is available in full.