Upbeat tunes make TikTok’s expert debunkers more effective

Sharing science in bite-sized chunks can be tricky. Debunking someone's entire argument in about a minute of video is, arguably, even trickier. However, in the face of rampant misinformation on TikTok, that's exactly what many users and science communicators aim to do.

The strength of their counterargument isn't the only thing these creators need to consider, though. Viewers can scroll away and fall further down misinformation rabbit holes in an instant if they're not engaged or willing to sit through science that might — at least on paper — be quite dry. Using every tool and trick available to create a punchy, engaging video, therefore, is important for getting good information out there.

Recent research from Mengyu Li and colleagues at the University of Wisconsin has taken a closer look at the role background music choice plays in the effectiveness of these debunking videos, and whether it can help well-informed arguments rise to the top.

For this study, the team recruited 873 U.S.-based participants who were pregnant, breastfeeding, or planning to have babies soon for an online experiment. These individuals were randomly assigned to various groups — in the experimental condition, they watched TikTok clips containing misinformation about the Covid-19 vaccine and infertility, followed by another which debunked the claims.

Each of the debunking videos was presented by either an expert (in this case, medically trained influencers presenting research) or a layperson (hosts sharing personal positive experiences of getting the jab during pregnancy). The researchers created versions of each of these clips with low-tempo, high-tempo, or no background music. After viewing their assigned debunking video, participants then filled out a set of questions probing their perceptions of the clip and their degree of counterarguing.

Reassuringly, analyses showed that most debunking videos were effective in reducing belief in misinformation versus controls. The choice of background music, however, played a significant role in how effectively expert-produced videos rose to the top. Clips hosted by experts with a high-tempo background beat were best at dispelling belief in misinformation — while second place was taken by layperson-hosted clips with low-tempo music, rather than experts. Videos from medically-trained hosts with low-tempo music and layperson clips with no music were third and fourth most effective, respectively.

The team believe that previous research may offer some insights on this pattern. They note that low-tempo music use by experts may activate ideas about threats to viewers' freedom, leaving some more reactive to the data being presented, and thereby reducing its effectiveness. The high-tempo music, they argue, may have mitigated this to a higher degree that low-tempo music by being more likely to distract people from counterarguing, a key component of psychological reactance.

Unfortunately, though high-tempo music did seem to help expert arguments cut through the noise of misinformation, it didn't help people remember the actual information provided better. This finding, the researchers note, runs slightly counter to previous studies, which observed that background music could increase attention and improve information encoding. While it could be the case that particular music choice distracted not only from counterarguing, but from the message at hand, the team shares that the method they used to measure this might not have been suitable for capturing this effect.

Short-form video platforms are still a relatively new medium (we're not going to count Vine here, as fun as it was). As such, there's plenty of room for further research on how information and misinformation spread through these algorithmic feeds. This research offers insight on just one of many strategies users and organisations can take advantage of to combat lies online, as well as underlines the value of citizen fact-checking.

Read the paper in full:

Li, M., Li, G., & Yang, S. (2024). Correction by distraction: how high-tempo music enhances medical experts' debunking TikTok videos. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 29(5). https://doi.org/10.1093/jcmc/zmae007