A recent study from the University of Florida found that 75% of news links shared on Facebook are reposted without the sharer reading the content. This habit, called “shares without clicks,” raises concerns about how social media spreads misinformation and influences public debate.
Many Americans now rely on social media for news, according to the Pew Research Center. But the ease of sharing posts with a single click has created a culture where headlines are passed along without thought. Instead of encouraging deeper engagement, platforms like Facebook amplify surface-level reactions.
Online behaviors
The study analyzed 35 million Facebook posts with links between 2017 and 2020. It found that politically extreme content was more likely to be shared without clicks than moderate content. Partisan users often repost articles that align with their views, even if they never read them. This behavior contributes to what researchers call “ideological segregation,” where users cluster in online bubbles that reinforce their biases.
The study also highlighted differences between conservative and liberal sharers. Conservative users shared false information more often (76.9%) than liberals (14.3%). However, most false links in the dataset (76–82%) came from conservative sources, suggesting the issue lies more with the material being shared than the users themselves.
Social media’s focus on quick reactions helps explain the spread of misinformation. “Political content goes viral because people skim headlines, not because they carefully read the full story,” the researchers noted. This rush to share unchecked information allows falsehoods to travel faster and further.
A wider problem
The problem goes beyond politics. It raises bigger questions about how social media platforms are designed and how people process information online. To address this, the researchers suggest changes like prompting users to read an article before sharing or adding warnings about misleading content.
If social media is to support informed public debate, tackling this issue is crucial. Without changes to sharing habits or platform designs, misinformation will continue to polarize society and undermine the quality of our conversations.
