An empirical study on internet-based false news stories: experiences, problem awareness and responsibilities

2022 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 15
Author(s):  
Sven Grüner
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
News Stories ◽  
False News ◽  
Problem Awareness

scholarly journals An empirical study on Internet-based false news stories: experiences, problem awareness, and responsibilities

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sven Gruener
Keyword(s):  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
News Stories ◽  
Marginal Costs ◽  
Societal Level ◽  
The Individual ◽  
False News ◽  
Problem Awareness ◽  
Better Than ◽  
Infor Mation

The Internet significantly reduced the marginal costs of generating and disseminating information. With false news stories in mind, scholars are increasingly interested in redesigning our information ecosystem because well-informed individuals are essential for a functioning democracy. This paper addresses the problem awareness of university students about false news stories. With the help of a questionnaire we seek for interesting correlations to generate hypotheses that can be analyzed in further studies with new data (i.e. exploratory study). They read as follows: (i) Facebook users are more likely to be suspicious of false news stories if they are interested in political topics. People are less likely to detect false news stories the stronger they trust in others and the more emphasis they put on the opinions of others, (ii) False news stories are perceived as a problem at the societal level, but not at the individual level, (iii) Men more often than women believe to be in touch with false news stories; men overestimate their ability to spot false news stories. People who fear false news stories are likely to believe that they could detect such infor-mation better than the average, and (iv) People see operators of platforms to be in charge against false news stories; people seem to trust less in government.

scholarly journals An empirical study on Internet-based false news stories: experiences, problem awareness, and responsibilities

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sven Gruener
Keyword(s):  
Individual Level ◽  
News Stories ◽  
Marginal Costs ◽  
Societal Level ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Individual ◽  
False News ◽  
Problem Awareness ◽  
Incorrect Information ◽  
Better Than

The Internet has significantly reduced the marginal costs of generating and disseminating information. The human information portfolio includes correct and incorrect information. False news stories constitute a challenge for our democracy. Therefore, scientists are increasingly interested in redesigning the information ecosystem. This paper addresses the problem awareness of university students in the realm of false news stories. With the help of a questionnaire, we seek for interesting correlations to generate hypotheses that can be analyzed in further studies with new data (i.e., exploratory study). The hypotheses read as follows: (i) Facebook users are more likely to suspect to be in touch with false news stories if they are interested in politics. People are less likely to assume to deal with false news stories the stronger they trust in others and the more emphasis they put on the opinions of others, (ii) False news stories are perceived as a problem at the societal level but not at the individual level, (iii) Men more often than women believe to be in touch with false news stories; men overestimate their ability to spot false news stories. People who fear false news stories are likely to believe that they could detect such information better than the average, and (iv) People see operators of platforms to be in charge of false news stories; people seem to have less confidence in the government.

scholarly journals Infodemics: Do healthcare professionals detect corona-related false news stories better than students?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sven Gruener ◽  
Felix Krüger
Keyword(s):  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Economic Consequences ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Minor Role ◽  
Health Consequences ◽  
News Stories ◽  
Analytical Thinking ◽  
Welfare Losses ◽  
False News ◽  
A Minor

False news stories cause welfare losses and fatal health consequences. To limit its dissemination, it is essential to know what determines the ability to distinguish between true and false news stories. In our experimental study, we present the subjects corona-related stories taken from the media from various categories (e.g. social isolation, economic consequences, direct health consequences, and “bullshit”). The task is to evaluate the stories as true or false. Besides students with and without healthcare background, we recruit healthcare professionals to increase the external validity of our study. Our main findings are: (i) Healthcare professionals perform similar to students in correctly distinguishing between true and false news stories. (ii) The propensity to engage in analytical thinking and actively open-minded thinking is positively associated with the ability to distinguish between true and false. (iii) We find that the residence of the subjects (East- or West-Germany) plays only a minor role. (iv) If narratives contradict the content of a story, subjects tend to think that the stories are wrong.

Spiritualism and the Resurgence of Fake News

2020 ◽  
pp. 222-237
Author(s):  
Kristy A. Hesketh
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Mass Media ◽  
Fake News ◽  
News Stories ◽  
News Reports ◽  
The World ◽  
Spirit World ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Media Platform ◽  
False News

This chapter explores the Spiritualist movement and its rapid growth due to the formation of mass media and compares these events with the current rise of fake news in the mass media. The technology of cheaper publications created a media platform that featured stories about Spiritualist mediums and communications with the spirit world. These articles were published in newspapers next to regular news creating a blurred line between real and hoax news stories. Laws were later created to address instances of fraud that occurred in the medium industry. Today, social media platforms provide a similar vessel for the spread of fake news. Online fake news is published alongside legitimate news reports leaving readers unable to differentiate between real and fake articles. Around the world countries are actioning initiatives to address the proliferation of false news to prevent the spread of misinformation. This chapter compares the parallels between these events, how hoaxes and fake news begin and spread, and examines the measures governments are taking to curb the growth of misinformation.

scholarly journals The Credibility Game

2020 ◽  
Vol 82 (8) ◽  
pp. 535-541
Author(s):  
Douglas Allchin
Keyword(s):  
Media Literacy ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
16Th Century ◽  
Scientific Controversy ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
Good Science ◽  
News Stories ◽  
Science Media ◽  
Basic Concepts ◽  
False News

Science denial, misinformation, and science con-artists are on the rise. We are plagued by anti-vaxxers, climate change naysayers, and promoters of ineffective fad diets and medical cures. The scientifically literate citizen or consumer needs skills in differentiating good science and trustworthy sources from impostors. Here, I present a series of student-centered activities that help students inquire into the nature of credibility and the problems of expertise, mediated knowledge, and science communication. I open with a playful guessing game about “fantastic beasts” reported in the 16th century, then follow with more modern examples. I then describe a science version of “To Tell the Truth,” a reflective exercise on “Finding the Expert,” and then a student opportunity to explore deceptive strategies by trying to bluff their classmates with false news stories about science. These all develop basic concepts in science media literacy and prepare students for more serious investigation into a contemporary scientific controversy.

scholarly journals Intentional or inadvertent fake news sharing? Fact-checking warnings and users’ interaction with social media content

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Ardèvol-Abreu ◽  
Patricia Delponti ◽  
Carmen Rodríguez-Wangüemert
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Media Content ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
News Stories ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Fact Checking ◽  
False News ◽  
News Sharing

The main social media platforms have been implementing strategies to minimize fake news dissemination. These include identifying, labeling, and penalizing –via news feed ranking algorithms– fake publications. Part of the rationale behind this approach is that the negative effects of fake content arise only when social media users are deceived. Once debunked, fake posts and news stories should therefore become harmless. Unfortunately, the literature shows that the effects of misinformation are more complex and tend to persist and even backfire after correction. Furthermore, we still do not know much about how social media users evaluate content that has been fact-checked and flagged as false. More worryingly, previous findings suggest that some people may intentionally share made up news on social media, although their motivations are not fully explained. To better understand users’ interaction with social media content identified or recognized as false, we analyze qualitative and quantitative data from five focus groups and a sub-national online survey (N = 350). Findings suggest that the label of ‘false news’ plays a role –although not necessarily central– in social media users’ evaluation of the content and their decision (not) to share it. Some participants showed distrust in fact-checkers and lack of knowledge about the fact-checking process. We also found that fake news sharing is a two-dimensional phenomenon that includes intentional and unintentional behaviors. We discuss some of the reasons why some of social media users may choose to distribute fake news content intentionally.

scholarly journals Pausing to consider why a headline is true or false can help reduce the sharing of false news

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Fazio
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
False Information ◽  
Online Experiment ◽  
Quality Of Information ◽  
News Stories ◽  
False News

In an online experiment, participants who paused to explain why a headline was true or false indicated that they were less likely to share false information compared to control participants. Their intention to share accurate news stories was unchanged. These results indicate that adding “friction” (i.e., pausing to think) before sharing can improve the quality of information shared on social media.

scholarly journals Doubters are more convincing than advocates. The impact of user comments and ratings on credibility perceptions of false news stories on social media

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 446-470
Author(s):  
Jan P . Kluck ◽  
Leonie Schaewitz ◽  
Nicole C . Krämer
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Misleading Information ◽  
News Stories ◽  
User Comments ◽  
News Credibility ◽  
Credibility Rating ◽  
Heuristic Information Processing ◽  
False News ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Sharing Behavior

False information on social media poses a crucial threat to our society, and calls for interventions to combat this problem are becoming louder. Users themselves may have the potential to diminish the impact of misleading information. In an online experiment with a 3 x 3 between-subjects design (credibility evaluation in user comments: positive vs. negative vs. none) x (numerical credibility rating: positive vs. negative vs. none), we tested the influence of bandwagon cues on the impact of a false news post on Facebook (N = 240). Contrary to prevalent assumptions regarding heuristic information processing, numerical credibility ratings had no influence on participants’ credibility appraisals and intended sharing behavior. However, negative user comments diminished the believability of false news. Moreover, participants’ willingness to share the news post publicly and privately was indirectly reduced by the effect of negative user comments on perceived news credibility.

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