Facebook now asks you to read an article before sharing it

Social media sites have been trying to address misinformation on their platforms in various ways. At the end of March, Twitter announced a round of updates that included a new prompt asking you to read a news article before retweeting it. The goal was to encourage users to give some thought to the article's actual content beyond its headline.

Facebook is now following suit. The social networking giant introduced today a new feature that will help you make sure you understand the content you're trying to share with others. This comes in the form of a prompt that pops up on your screen when you hit the share button.

The prompt appears only when Facebook detects that you are sharing a news article you haven't read yet. It will then ask you to open the link first and read it before sharing it to your news feed or via a direct message. The prompt warns you about the risk of missing key facts if you choose to share content without reading. Facebook announced the new feature in a tweet today.

That said, you still have the option to skip reading an article and continue to share it anyway by hitting the "Continue sharing" button. It's worth noting that the prompt is not live yet for everyone, as it's still being tested with a limited number of users.