<![CDATA[TikTok’s For You Page algorithm delivers content rapidly, personally, and continuously, resulting in users receiving a high volume of information in a short span of time. This environment creates the potential for information overload and increases exposure to hoaxes and misinformation. This study aims to understand the communication behavior strategies employed by university students when encountering hoaxes and misinformation on TikTok. A qualitative method was used, employing a descriptive approach and a case study design. The study involved 13 Communication Science students (semesters VI through VIII) from Universitas Yudharta Pasuruan, selected via purposive sampling. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using the Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña model. The analysis was grounded in Stephen W. Littlejohn’s Cognition and Information Processing Theory (as the grand theory), Elaboration Likelihood Theory (as the operational theory), and Ruben and Stewart’s concept of communication behavior. The findings reveal that the students' communication behavior strategies unfold across four stages: information selection, information evaluation, information verification, and communication action. The depth of engagement at these stages varied; notably, during the verification stage, the majority of informants stopped at checking the source's identity, while only a small fraction cross-referenced multiple credible sources, indicating a greater tendency toward the peripheral route of processing rather than the central route. The study also found that the students' cautiousness was largely shaped by past experiences of being misled and identified two new verification methods: utilizing TikTok’s comment section as a source of counter-information and employing generative artificial intelligence.]]>
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