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Americans overestimate how many social media users post harmful content
Angela Y Lee1, Eric Neumann2, Jamil Zaki2
1Department of Communication, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA 94305, USA.
PNAS Nexus
|December 18, 2025
Summary
Americans overestimate harmful social media behavior, believing 43% of Reddit users are toxic and 47% of Facebook users share fake news. In reality, only 3-7% of users create most harmful content, impacting social cohesion.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Sociology
- Communication Studies
Background:
- Online harmful behavior on social media platforms contributes to societal cynicism.
- Public perception of widespread harmful online behavior is a significant concern.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate public overestimation of social media users engaging in harmful online behavior.
- To examine the psychological and social consequences of this misperception.
- To identify potential interventions to correct these distorted views.
Main Methods:
- Three studies involving 1,090 American participants assessed perceptions of harmful online behavior.
- Analysis of platform-level data to determine the actual prevalence of toxic comments and false news.
- An experiment tested the impact of overestimation and the efficacy of an educational intervention.
Main Results:
- Participants substantially overestimated harmful online behavior, believing 43% of Reddit users posted toxic comments and 47% of Facebook users shared false news.
- Platform data indicated that only 3-7% of users generated most harmful content.
- Overestimating harmful content prevalence led to negative emotions, perceived moral decline, and distorted views of social media desires, but an educational intervention mitigated these effects.
Conclusions:
- Misperceptions regarding the prevalence of harmful social media behavior undermine social cohesion.
- Targeted educational interventions can correct these misperceptions and mitigate negative societal impacts.
- Understanding and addressing these cognitive biases is crucial for fostering a healthier online environment and social cohesion.
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