Ben Lyons
@benlyons.bsky.social
Associate prof at University of Utah Dept of Comm. Associate ed @misinforeview.bsky.social
hey I wrote a book... coming to you at some point in the future from @oxfordacademic.bsky.social
August 19, 2025 at 6:42 PM
hey I wrote a book... coming to you at some point in the future from @oxfordacademic.bsky.social
Updated "Exposure to low-credibility online health content...", now w YouTube data: Older adults consume less YT, but a higher proportion is low-cred. Dubious political news ex is linked w low-cred health ex.. suggests shared consumption profile spans topics + platforms
osf.io/preprints/os...
osf.io/preprints/os...
July 8, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Updated "Exposure to low-credibility online health content...", now w YouTube data: Older adults consume less YT, but a higher proportion is low-cred. Dubious political news ex is linked w low-cred health ex.. suggests shared consumption profile spans topics + platforms
osf.io/preprints/os...
osf.io/preprints/os...
It's about that time
February 7, 2025 at 11:44 PM
It's about that time
Excited to read Anti-scientific Americans by @mattmotta.bsky.social !
February 7, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Excited to read Anti-scientific Americans by @mattmotta.bsky.social !
New wp: Overconfidence in ability to discern cancer misinformation: A conceptual replication and extension osf.io/cn7m8_v1 Somewhat less overconfidence on this topic; still linked with exposure + misperceptions. But these associations are driven by poor ability rather than excess confidence
January 31, 2025 at 6:22 PM
New wp: Overconfidence in ability to discern cancer misinformation: A conceptual replication and extension osf.io/cn7m8_v1 Somewhat less overconfidence on this topic; still linked with exposure + misperceptions. But these associations are driven by poor ability rather than excess confidence
Older adults do consume much more health content, but are exposed to more low-cred sites even after accounting for total volume (e.g., as a ratio). They also tend not to access health info via search
December 30, 2024 at 7:55 PM
Older adults do consume much more health content, but are exposed to more low-cred sites even after accounting for total volume (e.g., as a ratio). They also tend not to access health info via search
some interesting findings in this one, I think
December 30, 2024 at 7:03 PM
some interesting findings in this one, I think
new wp: Exposure to low-credibility *health* websites is limited and is concentrated among older adults osf.io/5zrs6/ feedback welcome.
December 30, 2024 at 7:02 PM
new wp: Exposure to low-credibility *health* websites is limited and is concentrated among older adults osf.io/5zrs6/ feedback welcome.
One thing I wish I could've added: moving to a more realistic “supply” of false news – skewing right, instead of
balanced by slant – helps align findings from lab and field (shoutout Bernhard Clemm). I wrote up a little extra supplement laying this out here: osf.io/r6wzs
balanced by slant – helps align findings from lab and field (shoutout Bernhard Clemm). I wrote up a little extra supplement laying this out here: osf.io/r6wzs
October 23, 2024 at 7:06 PM
One thing I wish I could've added: moving to a more realistic “supply” of false news – skewing right, instead of
balanced by slant – helps align findings from lab and field (shoutout Bernhard Clemm). I wrote up a little extra supplement laying this out here: osf.io/r6wzs
balanced by slant – helps align findings from lab and field (shoutout Bernhard Clemm). I wrote up a little extra supplement laying this out here: osf.io/r6wzs
Finally published in @poqjournal.bsky.social: Partisanship and Older Americans’ Engagement with Dubious Political News. I think stronger partisanship that comes with age and methodological differences between study types can explain a lot in this space. academic.oup.com/poq/advance-...
October 23, 2024 at 7:04 PM
Finally published in @poqjournal.bsky.social: Partisanship and Older Americans’ Engagement with Dubious Political News. I think stronger partisanship that comes with age and methodological differences between study types can explain a lot in this space. academic.oup.com/poq/advance-...
Now out in ABM. Health-focused lit tips caused undue skepticism of accurate news (vs generic & control). Prior misperceptions explain lots of variance in novel cancer news discernment & treatment effects are strongest in high-misperception group
academic.oup.com/abm/advance-...
academic.oup.com/abm/advance-...
October 18, 2024 at 5:41 PM
Now out in ABM. Health-focused lit tips caused undue skepticism of accurate news (vs generic & control). Prior misperceptions explain lots of variance in novel cancer news discernment & treatment effects are strongest in high-misperception group
academic.oup.com/abm/advance-...
academic.oup.com/abm/advance-...
Also some correlational data - low-end diglit predicts discernments patterns well enough. But pre-existing misperceptions (cancer myths) explain a huge amount of variance in novel cancer news discernment. & treatment effects are strongest in high-misperception group
April 25, 2024 at 9:06 PM
Also some correlational data - low-end diglit predicts discernments patterns well enough. But pre-existing misperceptions (cancer myths) explain a huge amount of variance in novel cancer news discernment. & treatment effects are strongest in high-misperception group
New preprint w King/Kaphingst. When it comes to discernment for more specialized media (e.g., cancer news) does a more targeted literacy intervention beat a generic one? In this study, health-focused news tips caused undue skepticism of accurate news. osf.io/preprints/os...
April 25, 2024 at 9:05 PM
New preprint w King/Kaphingst. When it comes to discernment for more specialized media (e.g., cancer news) does a more targeted literacy intervention beat a generic one? In this study, health-focused news tips caused undue skepticism of accurate news. osf.io/preprints/os...
New working paper: Reduce blind spots to improve news discernment? Performance feedback reduces overconfidence but does not improve subsequent discernment osf.io/preprints/os...
February 28, 2024 at 5:08 PM
New working paper: Reduce blind spots to improve news discernment? Performance feedback reduces overconfidence but does not improve subsequent discernment osf.io/preprints/os...
New article out in Communications Psychology, with team led by @florianstoeckel.bsky.social & Sabrina Stöckli
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
My takeaway would be that in low-motivation settings, presence of a refutation matters more than its strength, accuracy, etc.
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
My takeaway would be that in low-motivation settings, presence of a refutation matters more than its strength, accuracy, etc.
February 13, 2024 at 11:25 PM
New article out in Communications Psychology, with team led by @florianstoeckel.bsky.social & Sabrina Stöckli
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
My takeaway would be that in low-motivation settings, presence of a refutation matters more than its strength, accuracy, etc.
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
My takeaway would be that in low-motivation settings, presence of a refutation matters more than its strength, accuracy, etc.
Seems important.
"Populists are skeptical to expert advice but respond to better arguments."
osf.io/preprints/ps...
"Populists are skeptical to expert advice but respond to better arguments."
osf.io/preprints/ps...
January 30, 2024 at 11:10 PM
Seems important.
"Populists are skeptical to expert advice but respond to better arguments."
osf.io/preprints/ps...
"Populists are skeptical to expert advice but respond to better arguments."
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Witnessed something important
December 7, 2023 at 4:32 PM
Witnessed something important
What do we know about overconfidence and misinformation? New review from Rapp & Withall www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
November 20, 2023 at 3:16 PM
What do we know about overconfidence and misinformation? New review from Rapp & Withall www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Happy to see this work from my undergrads' class project out in the world. Especially proud of 1) tackling an important issue here in SLC 2) open science practices (osf.io/2su7x/) and 3) iterating across studies to improve the work.
tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10....
tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10....
November 16, 2023 at 3:17 PM
Happy to see this work from my undergrads' class project out in the world. Especially proud of 1) tackling an important issue here in SLC 2) open science practices (osf.io/2su7x/) and 3) iterating across studies to improve the work.
tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10....
tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10....
Jerit/Barabas on nonprobability samples academic.oup.com/poq/advance-...
October 30, 2023 at 7:26 PM
Jerit/Barabas on nonprobability samples academic.oup.com/poq/advance-...
I crammed almost 80 references into this thing and summarize 33 in depth:
October 23, 2023 at 6:36 PM
I crammed almost 80 references into this thing and summarize 33 in depth:
this guy is like the Michael Jordan of machine learning
October 19, 2023 at 7:06 PM
this guy is like the Michael Jordan of machine learning
We're reading Conceptualizing long-term media effects on societal beliefs by Shehata et al this week in media effects seminar.
Lucid and compelling. Recommend for all media effects researchers.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Lucid and compelling. Recommend for all media effects researchers.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
October 4, 2023 at 10:38 PM
We're reading Conceptualizing long-term media effects on societal beliefs by Shehata et al this week in media effects seminar.
Lucid and compelling. Recommend for all media effects researchers.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Lucid and compelling. Recommend for all media effects researchers.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
this is a pretty cool extension of repetition research
All the President’s Lies: Repeated False Claims and Public Opinion by Pillai, Kim & @lkfazio.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/poq/advance-...
All the President’s Lies: Repeated False Claims and Public Opinion by Pillai, Kim & @lkfazio.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/poq/advance-...
September 19, 2023 at 9:05 PM
this is a pretty cool extension of repetition research
All the President’s Lies: Repeated False Claims and Public Opinion by Pillai, Kim & @lkfazio.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/poq/advance-...
All the President’s Lies: Repeated False Claims and Public Opinion by Pillai, Kim & @lkfazio.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/poq/advance-...