Tolerance for Sharing Polarizing Content on Information Platforms

Last registered on August 06, 2024
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Tolerance for Sharing Polarizing Content on Information Platforms
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0014069
Initial registration date
July 29, 2024

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
August 06, 2024, 10:55 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
United States of America
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Joy Wu
Affiliation
University of British Columbia
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Aija Leiponen
PI Affiliation
Cornell University
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PI Name
Tobias Kretschmer
PI Affiliation
LMU Munich
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2024-07-31
End date
2025-12-31
Keywords
Behavior, Other
Additional Keywords
polarization, information-sharing, beliefs, online platforms
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Our study seeks to understand individuals' preferences for spreading polarizing content on an information platform, which is essential to inform the design of effective platform governance strategies. It is important to discern whether individuals' propensity to spread polarizing content is due to biased beliefs about the impact of their actions or an inherent (dis)taste to incite division among a group. However, disentangling beliefs from preferences is an empirically challenging task, which requires a controlled setting that can causally identify the effects of these channels on actual behavior. To address this, we will conduct an online experiment to measure whether manipulating the salience and varying the degree of polarization consequences can shape individuals' content-sharing behavior.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Kretschmer, Tobias, Aija Leiponen and Joy Wu. 2024. "Tolerance for Sharing Polarizing Content on Information Platforms." AEA RCT Registry. August 06. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.14069-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
A description of this study will be in fields that will not become public until the experiment has completed.
Intervention (Hidden)
See the pre-analysis plan for more information.
Intervention Start Date
2024-07-31
Intervention End Date
2024-09-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
See the pre-analysis plan for more information.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
See the pre-analysis plan for more information.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
See the pre-analysis plan for more information.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
See the pre-analysis plan for more information.

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
A description of this study will be in fields that will not become public until the experiment has completed.
Experimental Design Details
The study will recruit 2,000 persons from a U.S. representative panel for a randomized, controlled trial. The experiment includes real-consequence decisions for these subjects. We will elicit individuals' decisions to share real online posts with others in the study. The respondents know that one of their decisions will be randomly selected and implemented for real, U.S.~representative panelists recruited via Prolific.

The study provides a set of real posts taken from X embedded into the Qualtrics survey for four historically popular hashtags: #HimToo, \#WomenInScience, #GenderPayGap, or #Feminism. Respondents are randomly assigned to one of these topics and asked to consider sharing 12 popular posts containing that hashtag. Among these 12 posts, there is variation in the level of polarization, and these posts are ranked as either low, medium, or high relative polarization levels.

The group of 200 Prolific panelists receiving the posts (information ``consumers'') will be recruited at a later date. Each of these consumers will be randomized into one of the four topics, and either shown (or not shown) the 12 posts related to that topic. The rules for not showing are based on mapping 12 individuals from the main experiment, randomizing them to one of the twelve posts of the consumers, and implementing the subject's decision about reposting.

To obtain an objective measure of polarization for each of the 48 posts (i.e., four topics and with 12 posts each), we recruited 500 individuals from a U.S. representative panel for a pre-experiment survey to develop these measures. Each of these respondents was randomized into one of four categories based on real posts that include one of the four hashtags. Within each category, participants answered opinion questions about 12 popular posts with these hashtags. The polarization level of a post is the difference between how the individual feels towards people who agree with and disagree with the post.

More details are provided in the pre-analysis plan.
Randomization Method
Randomization is done by Qualtrics survey.
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
2,000 individuals
Sample size: planned number of observations
2,000 individuals
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Approximately 500 in each randomization group. See the pre-analysis plan for more details.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Cornell Institutional Review Board for Human Participants
IRB Approval Date
2023-08-10
IRB Approval Number
IRB0147644
Analysis Plan

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Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials