Our faces play an undoubted role in the trust others have in us. Does the same extend to our belief in fake news? That was the question posed by research from the University of York, which examined the trustworthiness of faces paired with positive and negative news headlines.

The researchers highlight that our facial appearance has been shown to play a big part in how others perceive our character, even before we act. What’s more, those associations can be difficult to change once they’re established, even as we gain new information about that person.

Online dynamics

The researchers tested how these dynamics play out online by conducting a couple of experiments on Twitter, which showed participants fictional tweets paired with an AI-generated photo. The tweets mixed headlines that portrayed the sender in a positive and negative light, with half of the tweets labeled as disputed.

In both experiments, the participants rated those faces that were paired with positive and undisputed headlines as being more trustworthy than those faces linked with less reliable headlines.

For participants who rated just after viewing, faces paired with positive or negative disputed headlines were perceived as similarly trustworthy. However, for participants who rated after a 10-minute gap, faces paired with positive, disputed headlines were rated as more trustworthy than those paired with negative, disputed headlines.

The researchers believe that their findings demonstrate that the disputed tags on Twitter probably won’t change our long-term perceptions of those associated with it, which adds to concern about the spread of misinformation on the platform.

“Our data expand upon a growing and important area of research evaluating the effectiveness of measures used to combat fake news,” the researchers conclude. “Our results give important insights into how propaganda may potentially spread online.”