In an attempt to counteract rampant dis/misinformation in digital spaces, lots of well-meaning people push the importance of citing sources in social media posts.
Look, I’m an attorney with an undergrad degree in journalism. Citing sources is practically in my DNA. I care a lot about proper attribution, providing people the info they need to track down a source themselves, and, perhaps most importantly, giving credit to those whose words and ideas inspire and inform my own. If you’ve read my books or newsletters, you’ll see how often I quote from and reference other sources.
And I absolutely believe everyone should fact-check before posting anything. Spreading dis/misinformation is a no-no.
But including sources in our social media posts greatly reduces the number of people who will see them — which limits the impact of the things we share.
It’s taken me a while to fully grasp and make peace with this because I generally advise against changing our digital behavior to comply with the algorithms, and citing sources is part of my academic and professional ethos. If, however, we’re serious about getting accurate information to our social media networks, omitting certain forms of sourcing is the way to go.
Here’s why …
Social media networks kill the reach of links and shares.
It’s annoying, but it’s true. Gone are the days of journalists and writers sharing links to their posts and being discovered and amplified by the algorithms. Now, the algorithms show links and shares to far less people than “original” and linkless posts.
If you want people to see the information in the link you’re posting or the content you’re sharing, you’re better off copying and pasting sections into your own “original” post. Provide attribution to the original source, of course! It’s the right thing to do. But do it in text in the body of your own post — not through a link or a share.
No source forces people to evaluate the information on its own merits.
Those of us conditioned to cite sources believe well-sourced content is more credible than saying something without identifying where we got it. But because many people have strong opinions about which publications are “truthful” or “biased,” they automatically tune out sources they disagree with or don’t care about.
Including sources can actually undermine the information we want our networks to consider and absorb.
When sharing information, post a summary of what you want people to see. This forces people to grapple with the information, not bypass it by deciding the source isn’t credible.
They might find themselves agreeing with information they would have dismissed if a source they deemed “biased” was included.
Even if they instinctively reject the information as false or inaccurate, without an accompanying source to confirm that instinct, they may be nudged to investigate the information themselves. Likewise, if the information surprises them or they question its truthfulness.
No source forces people to do their own fact-checking.
When people aren’t sure about the truth of a claim — and especially when they think it HAS to be false and want to prove it to themselves or others — without an immediate source to check, they have to look it up themselves. Instead of passively consuming (or dismissing) information, they become active participants in the process of understanding it (and the broader context surrounding it).
People trust things they discover for themselves. (Think of how often we see the phrase “I did my own research” in digital spaces.) When we hand our networks a sourced post, the skeptics and the disagreers perceive it as binary — something to accept or reject outright. But when we present information without an immediate source attached, curiosity kicks in. As they search for sources to disprove the info or to better understand it, they will stumble across other ideas and insights. Whatever they discover, they feel like they’ve arrived at the conclusion themselves, rather than being told what to think by an "official" source, which makes them more likely to trust it, and maybe even share it with others.
Not everyone will fact-check responsibly, of course. Some will seek out sources that confirm what they already believe, or they might stumble upon misinformation instead. But that’s happening anyway, whether or not we include sources in our posts. What we can do is increase the likelihood that people engage with accurate information, become more informed, and start to see the complexity and interedependece of everything in our world.
Social Media Coaching for Leaders & Experts
Another way to address dis/misinformation is for leaders and subject matter experts to talk directly to people via social media, but there’s a lot of fear around sharing expertise that way. It’s similar to a fear of public speaking — amplified because the audience is potentially much bigger and the context is far more ambiguous. Your knowledge is vital to helping people better understand the world and how to move forward together, though. So if you’re struggling with doing digital your way, let’s talk!
MISCELLANEA
Everybody needs ‘Digital Kindness’ right now.” These days, I hear a comment like that at least once a day. Most people who say this are genuinely kind people searching for ways to show up kindly in spaces that reward anger, ugliness, and bluster. They’ve read my book and incorporated the suggestions that resonate with them into their social media behavior — and they’ve seen how positive social media CAN be when others show up in similar, kind ways. But every once in awhile, a person who is routinely awful on social media will tell me how much my book is needed right now. I’ve learned these people think everyone else is the problem, not them. They use my book and general appeals to civility and morality as a weapon to silence people who care about being kind, thoughtful, and not causing harm while they say and do whatever they want in digital spaces. If you have one of those people in your life or your digital space, “Digital Kindness” makes a great gift. 😉 (And if you’re boycotting Amazon, let me know in a comment or by e-mail, and you can order directly from me.)
Since I happen to agree that Digital Kindness is needed these days (especially kindness to ourselves), I have 3 codes for a free download of the audio version of Digital Kindness: Being Human in a Hyper-Connected World, narrated by me. Comment or reply and I’ll get one to you.
My current emotional support website is the Toronto Public Library Digital Loan dashboard. It’s somehow both fun and soothing to see which audio and digital books patrons are checking out in real time. It gives me hope when I see people checking out books related to understanding and resisting authoritarianism. If anyone has a connection with the Toronto Public Library, I’d love to get my books into their circulation. It would be such a thrill to see my work scroll by one day.
Interestingly enough, Bluesky does not appear to throttle posts with links. I saw a reference to the Boston Globe suddenly getting way more traffic from Bluesky than they ever got from FB/Threads/X