Misinformation on TikTok: A First-Hand Account

Hi, I'm Blair. I spend about 30% of my time on TikTok, managing and consuming content on my account of over 36,000 followers. In September of 2023, I started testing a theory I had about misinformation: that it spreads so quickly on the app because of the activity and engagement those particular videos get.

According to Insider Intelligence, social media companies can block or demote posts in their efforts to curb written misinformation, but they’re unable to monitor content on short-form video.?

In short, there's nothing they can do. And that should scare all of us deeply.

To test this theory on my own account, I started posting a handful of mistruths - entire videos of completely wrong information as well as videos with some correct information and some incorrect information, all mixed into my normal stream of content.

(For reference, I've chosen specifically to test this with information that isn't harmful, like one on the founding of Ben & Jerry's or about Justin Timberlake's return to N*SYNC). While I've made sure it isn't harmful misinformation, the information is still wrong or incomplete.

The result?

Every single time, without failure, the videos with wrong information out performed other videos. By HUGE margins.

Why?

Engagement.

TikTok's algorithm is trained to use comments, shares, and favorites as the trigger for video engagement. More engagement = more video views.

So when it comes to misinformation, the engagement on videos with wrong information FAR outpaces engagement on other videos, spreading it further into the internet ether.

Engagement on misinformation includes the number of people in the video comments correcting the mistakes, as well as people forwarding the video to others, probably with a comment about how the information is wrong or asking their friends if the video is real/true.

Take a look at my real analytics. In these screen-shots, I've circled the videos where wrong information is included. As you can see, the views on these videos are nothing like the views for the videos alongside them. It's not even a contest.

Seen again here:

And here:

I'm sure you'll be shocked to know it appears here too:

Time and time again, videos with misinformation blow performance out of the water. In the two cases below, the information had changed by the time I posted the video, rendering my information obsolete. So while they're the same topics as the videos around them, they perform drastically better.

Videos with misinformation even net more new followers per video than others; earning hundreds of new followers versus other videos.

My Takeaways:

Obviously we all need to be careful about what information we get on the internet, but there's more to be learned here than standard fact checking.

• First, it's that brands can use this strategy in smart ways. Some brands post faux jobs to get more LinkedIn followers; they can also use strategic fact finding as a part of their marketing strategy. Challenge followers to find errors and comment what they find to increase engagement.
• Next, we need accountability for verified and non-verified accounts. It's that simple. News organizations and figures, whether they're verified or not, need to be held accountable for the information they post on and off social media. Period.
• Finally, we need an easy way of knowing if information has been fact checked. Whether it's something similar to a verification badge or otherwise, social media platforms need to participate in a new standard of information and communication: one that once again promotes truth-telling and discourages misinformation. We need accountability at the highest levels of our society, or it all falls apart.

Since 2020, a staggering 80% of videos on social media have been attributed to misinformation. That number is both shocking and incredibly concerning; and it's a statistic that warrants immediate action.

With the rise of "education by internet" we need to ensure that the information we're consuming daily is vetted, and our media agencies should be the first ones with their feet to the fire. We're already facing misinformation and "fake news" at our highest levels of government and leadership, and with global tensions rising, we need to solve this problem quickly.

Social media companies can help this by creating mechanisms for fact checking and frequently reminding creators about the consequences of misinformation.

Until then, we need more education for consumers of media on how to spot misinformation and what to do if they encounter it.