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The Impact of Social Media Comments on Beliefs, Attitudes, and Behavior

Last registered on February 10, 2026
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
The Impact of Social Media Comments on Beliefs, Attitudes, and Behavior
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0017850
Initial registration date
February 06, 2026

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
February 10, 2026, 6:36 AM EST

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
Lena Song
Affiliation
UIUC
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Dante Donati
PI Affiliation
Columbia University
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2026-02-06
End date
2026-08-31
Keywords
Behavior
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial is based on or builds upon one or more prior RCTs.
Abstract
We measure the causal impact of comment sections on social media posts promoting racial justice. Using online survey experiments, we vary exposure to the comment section and estimate its impact on beliefs, attitudes, and behavior.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Donati, Dante and Lena Song. 2026. "The Impact of Social Media Comments on Beliefs, Attitudes, and Behavior." AEA RCT Registry. February 10. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.17850-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The intervention randomizes the presence and stance of the comment section.
Intervention (Hidden)
The intervention randomizes the presence and stance of the comment section. We randomize participants to one of three conditions with equal probability: a control condition with no comment section, a Supportive condition featuring comments supportive of racial justice, and an Opposing condition featuring opposing comments.

All participants see posts about several sub-issues related to racial justice. Within each condition, the comment section associated with each post has the same visibility and stance. For example, in the Supportive condition, each post displays two supportive comments. The posts are otherwise identical across conditions.
Intervention Start Date
2026-02-06
Intervention End Date
2026-08-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
We will measure beliefs, attitudes, and behavioral outcomes. These include incentivized, high-stakes measures such as an opportunity to donate real money to Color of Change and the option to sign up for the organization's mailing list. We also measure second-order beliefs, attention, cognitive responses, and emotional responses to examine potential mechanisms through which comment sections influence online engagement.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Use an online survey experiment, we vary exposure to the comment section and estimate its impact on beliefs, attitudes, and behavior.
Experimental Design Details
See pre-analysis plan
Randomization Method
Randomization done in qualtrics
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
4,800 US participants from Prolific
Sample size: planned number of observations
4,800 US participants from Prolific
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
1/3 in each arm
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Columbia University
IRB Approval Date
2026-02-05
IRB Approval Number
AAAU8166
Analysis Plan

Analysis Plan Documents

PAP_Comments_Survey

MD5: 45cbd56321925a4d44f14c7bffaa621c

SHA1: f53ecfd2973c189386d38f30cc4b00409b586010

Uploaded At: February 06, 2026

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