Post Page Advertisement [Top]

And the Fake News Award Goes to…
(Commentary by Terence Tee)

“Fake news!” We are more than familiar with these two words, especially over the past few years. Although fake news has always been a serious issue in the digital era, it has never gained much attention – until recently. Its rise in awareness is partly attributed to the leader of the free world during his 2016 presidential race. The study that follows this commentary, analyses Facebook posts of nearly 1,200 Facebook users after the 2016 United States Presidential Election. It was found that people over the age of sixty-five (65), especially conservatives, are seven (7) times more likely to share fake news than users of another demographic.

Personally, I believe the main reason of this is because there is a lack of digital media literacy. When people of the older generation scroll around the social media site, they are less likely to fact-check anything before sharing posts. Facebook, it can be hard to tell where a story is coming from. Any users on Facebook can share anything from any site; The majority of older users take whatever they see on Facebook as the truth. The lack of interest to fact-check anything on the social media site is why I believe fake news are able to thrive and spread on the internet.

People in the older generation are accustomed to established media outlets. These media outlets are brands built on accuracy and are trusted source of news. With the same mindset, they tend to perceive the internet being as truthful as media outlets. The way news is presented on social media sites, does not give you a strong sense of what’s the brand or the reputation of the source. Many rogue websites, masquerading as credible, has taken over the internet spreading misinformation. Fake news disseminates faster than before because people have no way to know how credible the news might be.

If you’re in a family WhatsApp group, I’m sure you’ll be more than familiar with this scenario. Your Aunt shares an article like “Drinking Cold Water Will Burst your Micro Blood Vessels” to the family group chat, warning everyone about the danger of drinking ice water in a hot day might burst your micro blood vessels and make you blind. This is obviously fake because when we drink cold water in a hot day, we don’t go blind. This is one of many examples that we can see from fake news being spread around all forms of social media. I’m sure that another person, finding the news credible, will then forward it again to another group of people.

The study also found that people in the conservative end of the political spectrum were more likely to share fake news during the run-up to the 2016 US Presidential Elections. In addition to the lack of digital literacy, there is tendency to share fake news within the conservative community because there is a  substantially higher number of fake news that are anti-Hillary and/or favours Trump.

This study serves as an example on how the internet, whether you like it or not, has the ability to manipulate to think in a certain way. It is crucial in today’s world that we are fully aware of the huge influence the internet has on our lives. Until that happens, the Fake News Award goes to old conservative people. 

 ________________________________________________________________________


Older People, Conservatives More Likely to Share Fake News: Study
The study, published in Science Advances, found less than only 8.5 percent of respondents shared a link from one of these websites. (Shutterstock/File)

Facebook users aged 65 plus and conservatives are more likely to share fake news on the platform than younger or more liberal counterparts, according to a new study published Wednesday.

Researchers from Princeton University and New York University analyzed the Facebook posts of nearly 1,200 people who agreed to share their data in the aftermath of the 2016 US presidential election.

They then compared links the respondents had shared on Facebook with several lists -- including one compiled by BuzzFeed -- of websites known to share false information.

The study, published in Science Advances, found less than only 8.5 percent of respondents shared a link from one of these websites.

However, those that did tended to be older and self-identified as being on the conservative end of the political spectrum.

In fact, users over 65 -- regardless of political affiliations -- shared "nearly seven times as many articles from fake news domains" as 18 to 29-year-olds, the youngest age group studied.

"No other demographic characteristic seems to have a consistent effect on sharing fake news," the authors reported.

"It is possible that an entire cohort of Americans, now in their 60s and beyond, lacks the level of digital media literacy necessary to reliably determine the trustworthiness of news encountered online," they suggested.

The authors also suggested the impact of aging on memory could have an effect.

"Under this account, memory deteriorates with age in a way that particularly undermines resistance to "illusions of truth," they wrote.

Although the study found that Republicans shared more fake news than Democrats, and ideologically, conservatives shared the most fake news stories -- this could be due to the fact that most fake news articles produced during the 2016 presidential campaign favored US President Donald Trump.

"Had the slant of fake news been pro-Clinton instead of pro-Trump, it is possible that more liberals than conservatives would have shared this content," the authors wrote in a Washington Post op-ed.

Facebook has been hammered for failing to stop information manipulation and misinformation, including from Russian organizations during the 2016 US election 

Its leaders have promised more transparency in hearings in the US Congress and elsewhere, and the network has stepped up efforts to find and root out fake accounts and foreign influence campaigns.

Source:

Image source: memegenerator.net


No comments:

Post a Comment

Bottom Ad [Post Page]

| Designed by Colorlib