New Research to Track How Adolescents Process Social Media Misinformation

Leiden University researchers are launching an innovative three-year study to investigate how adolescents engage with potentially misleading content on social media platforms. The project, set to run from 2025 to 2027, aims to address growing concerns about youth vulnerability to online misinformation.

Led by researcher Jiemiao Chen and funded by the AXA Research Fund, the study will use advanced eye-tracking technology to precisely monitor how teenagers allocate attention when scrolling through social media feeds, particularly on platforms like TikTok.

“With the rise of social media, misinformation now spreads widely and rapidly,” Chen explained. “Adolescents are particularly vulnerable partly due to their high exposure to social media and underdeveloped critical thinking skills.”

The consequences of misinformation exposure among teenagers have become increasingly severe, researchers note. These include participation in dangerous social media trends, increased risky behaviors, and concerning rises in extremism and polarization among youth populations.

Despite these risks, current research on adolescents’ social media use has predominantly focused on screen time metrics rather than examining how teenagers process and evaluate the content they consume.

“This project aims to bridge this critical knowledge gap,” said Chen. “We need to understand not just how long teenagers spend on these platforms, but what specifically captures their attention and how that relates to their judgment about what’s credible.”

The research will pursue three specific objectives: identifying which aspects of social media content adolescents pay attention to and how this influences their credibility judgments; examining how peer presence affects this process; and characterizing developmental differences between adolescents and young adults in these areas.

To accomplish these goals, researchers have designed two complementary studies. The first will combine video viewing with eye-tracking technology to examine how adolescents allocate attention when scrolling through TikTok feeds. Building on these findings, the second study will recruit friend pairs to investigate how peer presence influences what teenagers notice and how they judge content credibility.

The project will include two age groups for comparison: adolescents aged 15-17 and young adults aged 20-25. This comparative approach will help researchers identify developmental differences in information processing and vulnerability to misinformation.

A notable innovation in the study’s methodology is the development of a dual mobile eye-tracking paradigm, which will simultaneously track the eye movements of both friends during social media interaction tasks. This approach allows researchers to understand social dynamics in real-time during digital media consumption.

“Understanding which specific elements capture adolescents’ attention and how these elements influence their credibility judgments is crucial for developing effective educational interventions,” noted a representative from the AXA Research Fund, which is providing financial support for the project.

The research comes at a critical time when digital literacy education is increasingly recognized as essential for young people. Recent studies have shown that teenagers who spend significant time on social media platforms are exposed to large volumes of unvetted information, yet often lack the tools to critically evaluate what they see.

Findings from this project are expected to inform more effective educational programs specifically tailored to adolescent needs, potentially helping schools and parents better equip young people with the skills needed to navigate today’s complex information landscape.

The research team plans to publish preliminary findings by mid-2026, with comprehensive results and educational recommendations expected by early 2028.