Understanding Public Concerns About Fake News: Linking Social Media News Use, Cognitive Elaboration, and Perceived Fake News Exposure

Over the past decade, the exponential growth of information consumption through social media has reshaped the media landscape in most liberal democracies. This shift has introduced significant challenges, particularly the spread of fake news and growing concerns—whether real or perceived—about its potential effects. In this study, we propose an overarching moderated mediation model to explain citizens’ concerns about fake news. Drawing on panel survey data from Spain (N = 570), our findings reveal that social media news consumption is positively associated with individuals’ cognitive elaboration of fake news, which, in turn, influences their level of concern about fake news. However, this indirect effect is significantly stronger among individuals who perceive themselves as highly exposed to fake news on social media. Overall, our study advances the current understanding of the effects of social media news consumption, highlighting the crucial role of cognitive elaboration in shaping concerns about fake news, alongside the perceived intensity of fake news exposure in digital media environments.