Effects of a Video of Science Rejection by a Social Media Influencer and User Comments: Randomized Controlled Trial

Rejection of science is a common phenomenon on social media, but little is known about the effects of videos by social media influencers who reject basic principles of science and how other users could effectively counter these false claims.

This study aimed to explore the effects of an online video on social media that openly rejects facts of medical science on users' attitudes toward science and scientists, as well as to examine whether different response strategies by other users in the commentary section are effective in altering the impact of the video.

For this experiment, 470 adults were randomized to 1 of 5 groups. Each group watched either a video rejecting science related to medical research or footage unrelated to science. The science rejection video groups were also exposed to critical comments that focused on factual information, personal attacks on the influencer, a mix of these responses, or they received no comments. We collected data on trust in scientists, attitudes toward scientific research, science support, interest in scientific research, belief in science, conspiracy beliefs, and evaluation of video, influencer, and user comments presented to the participants.

Participants rated the video and influencer less favorably in the science rejection conditions than in the control group, and opposing user comments with factual information tended to be perceived as most informative and trustworthy, but there were no other differences between the 5 experimental conditions. However, in an additional exploratory analysis comparing all 4 science rejection groups with the control group, we found a decrease in interest in scientific research and an increase in trust in scientists. This can potentially be attributed to reactance to the science rejection content due to the sample consisting predominantly of individuals with a high affinity toward science.

Portrayals of science rejection in a video on social media had minimal impact on the attitudes toward science and scientists among users with a high affinity for scientific research. There was limited exploratory evidence suggesting that such videos might slightly increase trust in scientists while decreasing interest in research, but this finding requires further study for confirmation. Furthermore, whereas fact-based user comments tended to be considered more informative and trustworthy than other comments, none of the tested response strategies significantly changed the video's impact, highlighting the need for more research, particularly in individuals with little or no affinity toward scientific research who might be particularly vulnerable to the examined video content.

German Clinical Trial Registry DRKS00033829; https://drks.de/search/en/trial/DRKS00033829/details.