by Summary:
A sweeping new study published in the journal Science has found that false or misleading stories spread faster and farther than the truth on social media. The researchers also conclude that the problem is not automated bots or ill-intentioned hackers, but the emotion-clouded minds of everyday users. The study, highlighted this week in The Atlantic, surveyed the spread of 126,000 news stories, including both true accounts and false “rumor cascades,” on Twitter between September 2006 and December 2016. They concluded that falsehoods spread “farther, faster, deeper, and more broadly than the truth in all categories of information”. They also measured reactions to the various stories, finding that fake stories were “more novel than true news,” and that “whereas false stories inspired fear,
Topics:
Mike Norman considers the following as important: fake news
This could be interesting, too:
A sweeping new study published in the journal Science has found that false or misleading stories spread faster and farther than the truth on social media. The researchers also conclude that the problem is not automated bots or ill-intentioned hackers, but the emotion-clouded minds of everyday users. The study, highlighted this week in The Atlantic, surveyed the spread of 126,000 news stories, including both true accounts and false “rumor cascades,” on Twitter between September 2006 and December 2016. They concluded that falsehoods spread “farther, faster, deeper, and more broadly than the truth in all categories of information”. They also measured reactions to the various stories, finding that fake stories were “more novel than true news,” and that “whereas false stories inspired fear,
Topics:
Mike Norman considers the following as important: fake news
This could be interesting, too:
Mike Norman writes The Deepfake iPhone Apps Are Here — Jacob Schulz
Mike Norman writes Who Will Tell the Truth About the So-Called ‘Free Press’? — Jeremy R. Hammond
Mike Norman writes Bill Mitchell — Latest instalment in Project Fear is not very scary at all despite the headlines
Mike Norman writes Fact checking — Paul Robinson
A sweeping new study published in the journal Science has found that false or misleading stories spread faster and farther than the truth on social media. The researchers also conclude that the problem is not automated bots or ill-intentioned hackers, but the emotion-clouded minds of everyday users.
The study, highlighted this week in The Atlantic, surveyed the spread of 126,000 news stories, including both true accounts and false “rumor cascades,” on Twitter between September 2006 and December 2016. They concluded that falsehoods spread “farther, faster, deeper, and more broadly than the truth in all categories of information”.
They also measured reactions to the various stories, finding that fake stories were “more novel than true news,” and that “whereas false stories inspired fear, disgust, and surprise . . . true stories inspired anticipation, sadness, joy, and trust.” Apparently fear and surprise are more viral than sadness and trust — the researchers argue that “novelty and . . . emotional reactions” were responsible for the broader appeal of untrue stories. Speaking to The Atlantic, one of the researchers said “it might have something to do with human nature.”…It's called "click-bait."
Click-bait is used to make money through advertising. Obviously, baiters are interested in catching fish rather than communicating truth.
Fortune
Human Emotion, Not Russians or Bots, Makes Fake News More Viral Than the Truth, Study Finds
David Z. Morris