Profiling the Dynamics of Trust & Distrust in Social Media: A Survey Study
Open accessAbstract
In the era of digital communication, misinformation on social media threatens the foundational trust in these platforms. While myriad measures have been implemented to counteract misinformation, the complex relationship between these interventions and the multifaceted dynamics of trust and distrust on social media remains underexplored. To bridge this gap, we surveyed 1,769 participants in the U.S. to gauge their trust and distrust in social media and examine their experiences with anti-misinformation features. Our research demonstrates how trust and distrust in social media are not simply two ends of a spectrum; but can also co-exist, enriching the theoretical understanding of these constructs. Furthermore, participants exhibited varying patterns of trust and distrust across demographic characteristics and platforms. Our results also show that current misinformation interventions helped heighten awareness of misinformation and bolstered trust in social media, but did not alleviate underlying distrust. We discuss theoretical and practical implications for future research.
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Previous research often views trust and distrust as two extremes of a single dimension or uses these two terms interchangeably, implying high trust means low distrust.
“While previous research often views trust and distrust as two extremes of a single dimension or uses these two terms interchangeably-implying high trust means low distrust-some scholars have argued that trust and distrust can be two independent constructs in certain contexts [69, 125].”
From Understanding the Practices, Perceptions, and (Dis)Trust of Generative AI among Instructors: A Mixed-methods Study in the U.S. Higher Education (2025) · cites this paper as [125]
People can hold trust and distrust at the same time, influenced by different sets of factors and considerations.
“In other words, people can hold trust and distrust at the same time, influenced by different sets of factors and considerations.”
From Understanding the Practices, Perceptions, and (Dis)Trust of Generative AI among Instructors: A Mixed-methods Study in the U.S. Higher Education (2025) · cites this paper as [125]
The role of distrust in the adoption of GenAI remains underexplored and insufficiently acknowledged.
“Although much of the existing research prioritizes trust, and some recent studies have started to explore distrust [69, 125], the role of distrust in the adoption of GenAI remains underexplored and insufficiently acknowledged.”
From Understanding the Practices, Perceptions, and (Dis)Trust of Generative AI among Instructors: A Mixed-methods Study in the U.S. Higher Education (2025) · cites this paper as [125]
Some scholars have argued that trust and distrust can be two independent constructs in certain contexts.
“While previous research often views trust and distrust as two extremes of a single dimension or uses these two terms interchangeably-implying high trust means low distrust-some scholars have argued that trust and distrust can be two independent constructs in certain contexts [69, 125].”
From Understanding the Practices, Perceptions, and (Dis)Trust of Generative AI among Instructors: A Mixed-methods Study in the U.S. Higher Education (2025) · cites this paper as [125]
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References 63 · Cited by 15
- Authors
- Zhang, Y., Wang, Y., Yongsatianchot, N., Gaggiano, J. D., Suhaimi, N. M., Okrah, A., Kim, M., Griffin, J., & Parker, A. G.
- Affiliations
- William & Mary (US)
- Thammasat University (TH)
- Georgia Institute of Technology (US)
- Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah (MY)
- Northeastern University (US)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
- Publisher
- ACM
- Published
- 2024-05-11
- Pages
- 1-24
- OpenAlex
- W4396833692
- Cited by
- 15
- References
- 63
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 2
- FWCI
- 19.68
- Type
- conference paper
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Misinformation and Its Impacts
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Privacy, Security, and Data Protection
- Social Sciences › Communication › Social Media and Politics
- Keywords
- trust in social media, distrust, misinformation, misinformation awareness, demographic differences, platform differences, digital communication
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