Social Media Posts About Cancer: Five Timepoints

The main purpose of this trial was to evaluate the impact of user interface designs on intervening with cancer misinformation on social media. The investigators conducted a randomized clinical trial with a sample of 294 US adults (ages 18-65) who previously had a cancer diagnosis or were a cancer caregiver. This registration record only covers the 5 timepoint trial under the same IRB number.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Cancer
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Social cue prompt and policy; Behavioral: Standard prompts

Detailed Description

This 5 timepoint trial aimed to determine whether user interface designs encouraged intervening and reduced sharing of cancer misinformation on social media. The investigators enrolled 294 adults, ages 18-65, who had received a cancer diagnosis or were a cancer caregiver. Participants completed 5 online surveys, space approximately 2 business days apart. In the first survey, participant were randomized to 1 of 3 trial arms, described below. During each online survey, participants interacted with a simulated social media platform, branded as Invibe. Participants had passive exposure to stimuli cancer misinformation posts and cancer support posts in social media feeds. Participants also had forced exposure to stimuli posts in the online survey after interacting with Invibe. The investigators recorded social media behavior on Invibe and assessed self-reported measures in the online survey.

This study was preregister on AsPredicted.com on March 24, 2025, prior to data collection and data analysis (https://aspredicted.org/te3su2.pdf).

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 294
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • North Carolina
    • Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States, 27599
      • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Are ages 18-65
• Received a cancer diagnosis or have been a cancer caregiver
• Used social media
• Were willing to complete all five study timepoints
• Resided in the United States

Exclusion Criteria:

- Were unable to scroll to see posts on Invibe in the screener survey

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Social cue prompts and policy; Participants are exposed to the social cue prompts and policy intervention with cancer misinformation posts.	Behavioral: Social cue prompt and policy; Cancer misinformation posts are shown with a prompt above the post caption that read, "This post has been flagged as false and potentially harmful by [47 or 48] people on Invibe. If you want to report, click the flag below." The social media launch screen had an overlaid policy for removing flagged posts: "We are committed to working with you and others on Invibe to reduce false and potentially harmful information. When a post is flagged by 50 people, we remove it until we verify the information. Please help us make the Invibe experience a good one for all."
Experimental: Standard prompts; Participants are exposed to the standard prompts intervention with cancer misinformation posts.	Behavioral: Standard prompts; Cancer misinformation posts are shown with a prompt above the post caption that read, "This post has been flagged as false and potentially harmful. If you want to report, click the flag below."
No Intervention: Control; Participants do not see prompts on cancer misinformation posts.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Flagging	Measured with intervening behavior, defined as the flag icon selected. Response options were no (coded as 0) or yes (coded as 1). Assessed 15 times. Assessed for 2 cancer misinformation posts and 1 cancer support post at each timepoint approximately 2 business days apart, starting on the day of enrollment.	Up to 2 weeks
Willingness to flag	Measured with 1 self-reported survey item: "How willing are you to flag this post?" Responses ranged from "not at all" (coded as 1) to "extremely" (5). Assessed 15 times. Assessed for 2 cancer misinformation posts and 1 cancer support post at each timepoint approximately 2 business days apart, starting on the day of enrollment.	Up to 2 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Disliking	Measured with intervening behavior, defined as the thumbs down icon selected. Response options were no (coded as 0) or yes (coded as 1). Assessed 15 times. Assessed for 2 cancer misinformation posts and 1 cancer support post at each timepoint approximately 2 business days apart, starting on the day of enrollment.	Up to 2 weeks
Liking	Measured with intervening behavior, defined as the heart icon selected. Response options were no (coded as 0) or yes (coded as 1). Assessed 15 times. Assessed for 2 cancer misinformation posts and 1 cancer support post at each timepoint approximately 2 business days apart, starting on the day of enrollment.	Up to 2 weeks
Willingness to dislike	Measured with 1 self-reported survey item: "How willing are you to dislike (thumbs down) this post?" Responses ranged from "not at all" (coded as 1) to "extremely" (5). Assessed 15 times. Assessed for 2 cancer misinformation posts and 1 cancer support post at each timepoint approximately 2 business days apart, starting on the day of enrollment.	Up to 2 weeks
Willingness to like	Measured with 1 self-reported survey item: "How willing are you to like (heart) this post?" Responses ranged from "not at all" (coded as 1) to "extremely" (5). Assessed 15 times. Assessed for 2 cancer misinformation posts and 1 cancer support post at each timepoint approximately 2 business days apart, starting on the day of enrollment.	Up to 2 weeks
Willingness to comment	Measured with 1 self-reported survey item: "How willing are you to comment on this post?" Responses ranged from "not at all" (coded as 1) to "extremely" (5). Assessed 15 times. Assessed for 2 cancer misinformation posts and 1 cancer support post at each timepoint approximately 2 business days apart, starting on the day of enrollment.	Up to 2 weeks
Willingness to share	Measured with 1 self-reported survey item: "How likely are you to share or tell someone about this post?" Responses ranged from "not at all" (coded as 1) to "extremely" (5). Assessed 15 times. Assessed for 2 cancer misinformation posts and 1 cancer support post at each timepoint approximately 2 business days apart, starting on the day of enrollment.	Up to 2 weeks
Comment valence	Measured with 1 self-reported survey item: "What type of comment would you write on this post?" Response options were "comment to agree" (share), "comment to disagree" (intervene), "other," or "I would not comment." Assessed 15 times. Assessed for 2 cancer misinformation posts and 1 cancer support post at each timepoint approximately 2 business days apart, starting on the day of enrollment.	Up to 2 weeks
Sharing recipient	Measured with 1 self-report survey item: "Who would you share about this post with?" Response options were "someone with cancer," "someone who is a cancer caregiver," "health-care provider," "other," or "no one." Assessed 6 times. Assessed for 2 cancer misinformation posts and 1 cancer support post at first timepoint and last timepoint approximately 2 weeks apart.	Up to 2 weeks
Sharing channel	Measured with 1 self-report survey item: "How would you share about this post?" Response options were "private message on social media," "text message," "in person," "repost on your social media," "other," and "none of these ways." Assessed 6 times. Assessed for 2 cancer misinformation posts and 1 cancer support post at timepoint 1 and timepoint 5 approximately 2 weeks apart.	Up to 2 weeks
Past week intervening behavior	Measured with 1 self-reported survey item: "In the last 7 days, did you take action against false and potentially harmful cancer posts from social media? Select all that apply." Response options included muted accounts, flagged posts, disliked posts, commented to correct posts, chatted with others to disagree with posts information, encouraged someone to flag or report a posts, other or did not do anything. Assessed 1 time. Assessed at timepoint 4 approximately a week after the day of enrollment	Up to 2 weeks
Past week intervening platform	Measured with 1 self-reported survey item per reported interpersonal intervening behavior: "Who did you [intervening behavior]? Select all that apply." Response options were "someone with cancer," "someone who is a cancer caregiver," "health-care provider," "other," or "no one." Assessed up to 2 times. Assessed at timepoint 4 approximately a week after the day of enrollment.	Up to 2 weeks
Past week intervening topic	Measured with 1 self-reported survey item per reported intervening behavior: "What was the [source for intervening] about? Select all that apply." Response options were "to adopt a new mindset," "diet and nutrition advice," "physical activity advice," "advice to stop clinical care," "to seek treatment outside the US," or "other." Assessed up to 6 times. Assessed at timepoint 4 approximately a week after the day of enrollment.	Up to 2 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Allison J Lazard, PhD, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center

Publications and helpful links

Helpful Links

• University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center Clinical Trials
• AsPredicted.com on March 24, 2025

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 31, 2025
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 12, 2025
• Study Completion (Actual): May 12, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 6, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 6, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): May 15, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 15, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 6, 2026
• Last Verified: May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Social media; Communication; Misinformation; Cancer misinformation
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavior; Neoplasms; Communication; Health Care Economics and Organizations; Policy
• Other Study ID Numbers: 25-0269-5TP

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: Researcher may request de-identified data from participants 1 year after publication.
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: CSR

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No