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This is especially true today, where social media has increasingly allowed misinformation to spread by prioritizing what is recent and popular, regardless of validity or general benefit. Whereas in traditional societies there was diversity of expertise, contemporary social media facilitates homophily, which isolates true subject experts from each other and from the wider population. Diversity of knowledge thus becomes social division. Here, we discuss the potential of a cultural-evolutionary framework designed for the countless choices in contemporary media. Cultural-evolutionary theory identifies key factors that determine whether communication networks unify or fragment knowledge. Our approach highlights two parameters: transparency of information and social conformity. By identifying online spaces exhibiting aggregate patterns of high popularity bias and low transparency of information, we can help define the \u201csafe limits\u201d of social conformity and information overload in digital communications.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/10597123231186432","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,4]],"date-time":"2023-07-04T04:46:45Z","timestamp":1688446005000},"page":"189-203","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Cultural Evolution, Disinformation, and Social Division"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"32","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9086-2197","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"R Alexander","family":"Bentley","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Emerging and Collaborative Studies, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA"}]},{"given":"Benjamin","family":"Horne","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Information Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1505-148X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Joshua","family":"Borycz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Sarah Shannon Stevenson Science and Engineering Library, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4416-1389","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Simon","family":"Carrignon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, TN, UK"}]},{"given":"Garriy","family":"Shteynberg","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4819-7047","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Blai","family":"Vidiella","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Evolution of Networks Lab, Institute of Evolutionary Biology (UPF-CSIC), Universitat Aut\u00f2noma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain"}]},{"given":"Sergi","family":"Valverde","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Evolution of Networks Lab, Institute of Evolutionary Biology (UPF-CSIC), Universitat Aut\u00f2noma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain"},{"name":"European Centre for Living Technology (ECLT), Ca\u2019 Bottacin, Italy"}]},{"given":"Michael J","family":"O\u2019Brien","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of History and Philosophy and Department of Life Sciences, Texas A&M University\u2013San Antonio, TX, USA"},{"name":"Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,3]]},"reference":[{"doi-asserted-by":"publisher","key":"bibr1-10597123231186432","DOI":"10.1057\/s41599-019-0224-y"},{"doi-asserted-by":"publisher","key":"bibr2-10597123231186432","DOI":"10.30966\/2018.riga.2.4"},{"doi-asserted-by":"publisher","key":"bibr3-10597123231186432","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.2108576118"},{"doi-asserted-by":"publisher","key":"bibr4-10597123231186432","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ipm.2020.102303"},{"doi-asserted-by":"publisher","key":"bibr5-10597123231186432","DOI":"10.1038\/nature10736"},{"doi-asserted-by":"publisher","key":"bibr6-10597123231186432","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.0908800106"},{"doi-asserted-by":"publisher","key":"bibr7-10597123231186432","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1215842"},{"doi-asserted-by":"publisher","key":"bibr8-10597123231186432","DOI":"10.1177\/147470491201000309"},{"doi-asserted-by":"publisher","key":"bibr9-10597123231186432","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1906420116"},{"doi-asserted-by":"publisher","key":"bibr10-10597123231186432","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.2025764118"},{"doi-asserted-by":"publisher","key":"bibr11-10597123231186432","DOI":"10.1038\/s41562-022-01388-6"},{"doi-asserted-by":"publisher","key":"bibr12-10597123231186432","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1916545117"},{"doi-asserted-by":"publisher","key":"bibr13-10597123231186432","DOI":"10.1177\/1059712320983045"},{"doi-asserted-by":"publisher","key":"bibr14-10597123231186432","DOI":"10.1038\/s41562-021-01149-x"},{"doi-asserted-by":"publisher","key":"bibr15-10597123231186432","DOI":"10.1556\/JEP.9.2011.18.1"},{"doi-asserted-by":"publisher","key":"bibr16-10597123231186432","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/11361.001.0001"},{"doi-asserted-by":"publisher","key":"bibr17-10597123231186432","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-030-12723-7_4"},{"doi-asserted-by":"publisher","key":"bibr18-10597123231186432","DOI":"10.1017\/S0140525X13000289"},{"doi-asserted-by":"publisher","key":"bibr19-10597123231186432","DOI":"10.1140\/epjst\/e2015-50319-0"},{"volume-title":"An agenda for disinformation research","year":"2020","author":"Bliss N.","key":"bibr20-10597123231186432"},{"volume-title":"Troll factories: The Internet Research Agency and state-sponsored agenda building","year":"2018","author":"Boatwright B. 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