Can digital literacy improve older adults’ resilience to misinformation? An experimental evaluation [Registered Report Stage 1 Protocol]

<p> </p> <p><strong>ABSTRACT</strong>  <br> While many interventions teach digital literacy skills to build people’s resilience to misinformation, few are tested on let alone tailored to the unique experiences and needs of older adults, who are highly susceptible to misinformation. Moreover, methodological limitations of existing studies make it difficult to determine whether interventions’ effects are causal, durable, or generalizable. We will run an experiment (N = 1,600) evaluating the effectiveness of a digital media literacy intervention for older adults (MediaWise for Seniors) in a diverse sample. Pre- and post-intervention surveys will assess how the intervention affects participants’ (1) ability to identify true and false news, (2) intentions to share false news, and (3) comprehension of digital literacy concepts. We will examine the persistence of treatment effects by administering follow-up surveys one week after the intervention and complement our survey-based measures with behavioral measures of (mis)information consumption in participants’ web browsing data. </p> <p><br></p> <p><strong>ITEMS </strong>Stage 1 Registered Report Protocol</p>