Disinformation Recognition in Social Media: Effects of Multimodality, Comments and Virality Metrics

ABSTRACT Multimodal disinformation (MD) has become more widespread in social media, raising the importance of information credibility research in this context. Meanwhile, engagement cues like comments and virality metrics may influence online credibility assessment. Using a between‐subjects experiment, we examined the main and interaction effects of multimodality, comments, and virality metrics on disinformation recognition. Our results unexpectedly revealed that MD is easier to recognize than unimodal disinformation. Further, multimodality could attenuate the impact of comments and virality metrics, making people more susceptible to disinformation. Based on these findings, we discussed the theoretical and practical implications.