A new study finds that to counter misinformation online, we need to copy its style

This article in The Conversation reports on a paper published in the Journal of Computational Social Science in September 2026. 

Extract: 

"Imagine you’re worried about vaccinating your baby. A message on Facebook tells you: “Protect the community and your kids by booking their vaccinations today.” Another asks: “Do you know all the effects of childhood vaccinations on your babies?”

Both link to the same reliable vaccination information. But in our recently published research, the second message was about 52% more likely to be clicked on.

We wanted to test whether changing the way that factual information is presented online could help it reach audiences who might otherwise overlook it. Our findings suggest the wording matters, even when the information itself stays the same..."