Did you know Social Media’s 'News-Finds-Me' Mentality Fuels Misinformation Sharing

 

People's belief that they will always find the right news, no matter what, contributes to the spread of fake news, as individuals share it without verification, i.e. according to a new study by researchers from Syracuse University and Fudan University.

Most of the social media users have a “news-find-me” mentality and they rely on algorithms and hope that the right news will come before their eyes. But this is making people unable to identify fake news from accurate news as they become confident that the news that they have read must be true. It is also making them disengage from authentic media outlets.

To know more about this phenomenon, the researchers conducted a survey among 1,014 adults from the US and were asked to respond to statements like “I don't have to seek news actively because I always find it” and “My friends tell me whenever there is important news”. Their responses showed how much they rely on algorithms and their peers to seek information. The participants were also tested on Third Part Perception which tells the individuals’ confidence about not finding fake news as much as other people.

The researchers measured Third Party Perception by giving participants some fake and real headlines and asked them to suspect which ones are fake. They were also asked beforehand how much confidence they have in identifying fake news and then they were evaluated on the basis of assessments. Participants were also asked whether they would share certain fake news headlines to know their intent to share fake news.

The results of the assessments found that 55.2% had “News-Finds-Me” perception, with younger participants having this perception more than others because of their excessive use of social media platforms. They were also likely to trust fake news more and this is associated with sharing misinformation as well. 40% of the participants who Third Person Perception believed that they could recognize fake news better than other people but they were actually less capable in identifying fake news than average. The study found that there is a strong relationship between News-Finds-Me and Third-Person Perception, showing that people with both these perceptions are more likely to believe fake news as they create an illusion of knowledgeability. Social media algorithms also play an important role in fostering a sense of belief in individuals because they blindly trust their algorithms to give them credible news.