Ancient wisdom suggests don’t read the comments.
If you do, tread lightly.
Hey guys, Julia here for DNews.
Whenever you read about a new study, do you ever skip to the comment section and find
it filled with especially nasty posts?
Well this could be a real problem for science, because recent research from the University
of Washington showed that people trust online comments more than credible sources.
In their study “Reexamining Health Messages in the Digital Age" the researchers ran two
experiments.
In the first, 129 participants watched made-up PSAs about vaccines.
One was pro, the other was against.
Afterwards they read fake comments.
The results shocked the researchers.
When the participants filled out questionnaires on vaccines, people trusted a Joe Schmoe commenter
as much as the PSA.
In the second experience the commenters were identified as an English literature student,
a lobbyist specializing in healthcare issues and a medical doctor specializing in infectious
diseases and vaccinology.
Not so surprisingly, the doctor’s comments outweighed the others in terms of credibility
and their opinions impacted the participants attitudes MORE than the PSAs.
It’s this phenomena that lead to Popular Science shutting down its comment section
in September of 2013.
Citing that a “vocal minority of "shrill, boorish specimens of the lower Internet phyla"
were ruining it for everyone else.”
So why do comment sections get so horrible?
A recent study showed that comment sections get testy for controversial scientific topics
because of a concept called social identity theory.
The idea is that we tie our sense of self worth to membership with a group.
And it’s within our own interest to boost up our group by sometimes degrading the “opposing”
groups since it reflects back on us.
Think of like sports fans or political parties.
For some scientific topics, there are groups that hold certain positions.
People are really proud to be affiliated with these groups.
If a study contradicts the group’s opinion, people take the science personally.
Like a sports fan talking smack about the other team, people turn to the comment sections
and hope their buddies back them up.
The researchers say that “Posting a negative comment appeases a need for affirmation.”
Both of these studies together point to a larger issue in our culture.
This could be one of the reasons why science has a publicity problem.
A new Pew study showed scientists and the public disagree more on topics now than ever.
And that there’s an increase in skepticism of science in general.
uh oh.
I mean we’re emotional creatures, as much as we like to think we wouldn’t be persuaded
by comments, we are.
And as it stands, the comment sections aren’t the best place for fruitful conversations.
And this is a problem for talking about the hot button issues of our time.
So how do we communicate science without triggering a social identity threat?
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