Rumor has it: The effects of virality metrics on rumor believability and transmission on Twitter

This study examines the effects of virality metrics on the judgment of a rumor on Twitter. In an online experiment (N = 203), a tweet about the rumor related to the issue of food safety was presented with the variations of virality metrics (i.e. the number of retweets, likes, and replies). The results showed that exposure to high virality metrics resulted in greater perceptions of descriptive norms and injunctive norms of sharing the tweet message, and in turn, increased message believability and viral behavioral intentions. Overall, findings demonstrated the normative influence of virality metrics. Implications of the current findings are discussed in light of social norm theories and online rumor literature.