Karolina Koc-Michalska explores the issue of fake news on social media and shares advice on how to navigate through the proliferation of fake news
Over the past decade social media has become an integral part of the lives of a huge part of the world’s population and an important source of information for them. A study by Ofcom revealed that in 2020, 45% of people relied social media to keep up with the latest news in the UK. But is it a good idea?
Social media is the reality in which an increasingly large part of the world is now functioning and so we need to accept the fact that they are here to stay. Social media will evolve, they will change, but they will not disappear from the contemporary media environment. When looking at social media, we have to see how the different platforms are designed, and how they influence the way we react with them. For example, Facebook has been described as a ‘strong-ties’ platform, which is designed to offer its users a sense of belonging, meaning that it is prone to encouraging certain groups, often with minority opinions, to express themselves in ways in which they otherwise wouldn’t.
In more open or ‘weak-ties’ environments (like Twitter, or general online platforms), where users are more likely to be communicating with the general public, they are more likely to be exposed to incivility, aggressiveness or harassment. Recent studies show that it is not very useful anymore to talk about ‘social media’ in general but that each platform needs to be regarded by its own merits – and de-merits. Each one garners its own types of communities and allows for different levels of engagement with the political content.
Fake news is a very ambiguous notion, nowadays mainly embedded into common consciousness through its usage by Donald Trump from the very start of his presidency. Yet by fake news he meant information produced, mainly by well-established traditional media, that voiced positions against him or his policies. However fake news should be understood as misleading information, information that is constructed to create false impressions or is simply untrue.
Here are a few tips on how to spot fake news:
1Be sceptical – always check the information you see, especially if you do not know the source. We know that people are very bad at recognising if information is true or not. You can also use fact-checker websites or follow the authors’ profiles to find out more about the credibility of the source.
2Rely on established sources – use traditional media, well-established media, or international media (especially if you happen to live in a country with corrupted media system). Of course, any source of information carries a bias, and those established media also may provide imprecise information (out of context, inaccurate, or just plain wrong). Yet the question always is, has it been done purposely, and what is the response once the truthfulness is in question? A good media outlet would be expected to publish corrections and edits if the information it published was incorrect.
3Discuss the news with others and expose yourself to counter-intuitive information. In my recent research with colleagues ‘Public Beliefs about Falsehoods in News’, which was which was published in 2020 in the International Journal of Press-Politics, we found that people who avoid locking themselves in echo chambers (e.g. talking to people with similar political views) are more aware when they are exposed to fake news. In fact, discussing with others, and especially others who have a different point of view from us, makes us reflect more on the information we receive, and leads us to be more critical and better at detecting false information.
4Verification of information – those who discuss news with others will be more likely to verify information that they suspect is false. Our research also suggests that social media platforms play a twofold role: those who use them, while claiming higher exposure to falsified information, also tend to verify such information more often than those who do not use social media platforms.
Research shows that people with a higher education level, and most importantly, with higher media literacy level, are usually less likely to be tempted to easily believe falsified stories. It is therefore essential that education systems around the world include in their programmes courses about media and information management. It needs to start early, and to be part of education systems so that the younger generations are well equipped to deal with misleading information and can discern falsehood at once.
Nurturing a critical and sceptical attitude towards social media is paramount, especially as our social interactions have inexorably moved us towards the virtual world with the global pandemic. Let’s remember that what matters is not only the existence and seductive power of social media platforms, or who is posting on them, but how people respond to the content. Do they actively engage in conversation around issues which matter, do they fight for a cause, do they use social media to organise themselves or to inform others? Social platforms can be used in a positive manner, and I feel that we should remain optimistic, while of course not ignoring the darker side.
Professor Karolina Koc-Michalska, is a specialist in new media and political communication at Audencia Business School.
