Spread Mechanism

Content spreads because it fills an information gap. Readers believe it, or are unsure, and pass it on as if it were useful knowledge. Corrections, source cues and prebunks tend to work here because the audience is still reasoning about whether the claim is true.

• Audience asks: “Is this true?”
• Responsive to fact-checks, expert sourcing and uncertainty framing.
• Best interventions: prebunking, inoculation, credible source labels.

Content spreads because it signals who we are and what we stand against. The claim is emotionally charged and bound up with group membership, values or moral outrage. Accuracy corrections often backfire because the audience is performing identity, not evaluating evidence.

• Audience asks: “Whose side am I on?”
• Driven by outrage, moral disgust and in-group signalling.
• Best interventions: values-aligned reframing, trusted in-group voices, empathy-first narratives.