TikTok is a great place to learn about science, but there is also a large amount of scientific misinformation on the platform. Some scientists take it upon themselves to challenge this misinformation by making their own TikTok videos. But do people listen to them?
Recent research by Megyu Li and colleagues (2024) explored the potential impact of upbeat background music on people’s desire to listen to the counterarguments that scientists put forward in these debunking videos. The researchers asked participants to watch a TikTok video that made false claims about a link between the Covid-19 vaccine and infertility. They then showed the participants another video that debunked the claims, either presented by a medical expert or a non-expert with no medical expertise, and either having high-tempo background music, low-tempo background music, or no background music.
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