“Going down the rabbit hole” is a phrase often used for mindlessly scrolling social media and going on tangents following sensational headlines from one absurd conspiracy (unsubstantiated) theory to another. Anecdotally, it’s been long accepted as one way conspiracy theories win over converts. Now, a new study lends credence to that connection.
Researchers found that people who overuse social media to the point that it interferes with daily life are more likely to believe — and even engage with — fake news.
The study, led by Dar Meshi and Maria D. Molina from Michigan State University, is one of the first to directly link problematic social media use with susceptibility to misinformation. Participants aged 18 to 26 were shown 20 news stories — half real, half fake — all formatted to look like typical social media posts. The researchers tracked how participants judged each story’s credibility and their willingness to click, like, comment, or share.
The results were pretty clear: the more someone exhibited signs of social media overuse (things like trouble stopping, withdrawal-like symptoms, or using it to escape problems), the more likely they were to believe fake news — and even interact with it as if it were real.
And that interaction matters. As Molina noted, false news spreads faster than real news on social platforms. With more than 60% of Americans getting at least some of their news from social media, the ripple effects of sharing misinformation — even unintentionally — can be far-reaching.
What’s particularly striking is that this kind of overuse shares patterns seen in addictive behaviors, according to the researchers. Though not officially recognized as a mental health disorder, problematic social media use has been linked to issues like poor academic performance, job trouble, and anxiety.
The takeaway here isn’t just about fake news — it’s also about mental health, digital literacy, and how we build better habits online. The study’s authors hope their findings will encourage mental health professionals to pay closer attention to how much and how often their patients use social media — because when it comes to fake news, who clicks matters. Go beyond the headlines…
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