Says Who?: How News Presentation Format Influences Perceived Believability and the Engagement Level of Social Media Users

We investigate whether the news presentation format affects the believability of a news story and the engagement level of social media users. Specifically, we test to see if highlighting the source delivering the story can nudge the users to think more critically about the truthfulness of the story that they see, and for obscure sources, whether source ratings can affect how the users evaluate the truthfulness. We also test whether the believability can influence the users\u27 engagement level for the presented news post (e.g., read, like, comment, and share). We find that such changes in the news presentation format indeed have significant impacts on how social media users perceive and act on news items

Fake News Flags, Cognitive Dissonance, and the Believability of Social Media Posts

Despite the increasing relevance of how to counter fake news on social media, there are only a few studies on the merit of fake news flags. Therefore, the main goal of this research is to investigate how fake news flags and the reputation of sources affect believability and information elaboration of news content shared online. Based on the data of an online pre-study with 118 participants, we present preliminary results and how we intend to test our research model in more detail by conducting an experimental eye-tracking study. Our initial findings suggest that fake news flags have a measurable impact on the believability of news, but only partially manage to counteract the established reputation of a trusted information source. Such results serve a broader research agenda to develop systems and user interfaces that are more effective for communicating fact-checking results and debunking fake news

Live From New York, It\u27s the Fake News! Saturday Night Live and the (Non)Politics of Parody

Though Saturday Night Live\u27s “Weekend Update” has become one of the most iconic of fake news programs, it is remarkably unfocused on either satiric critique or parody of particular news conventions. Instead, the segment has been shaped by a series of hosts who made a name for themselves by developing distinctive comic personalities. In contrast to more politically invested contemporary programs, the genre of fake news on Saturday Night Live has been largely emptied to serve the needs of the larger show, maintaining its status as just topical, hip, and unthreatening enough to attract celebrities and politicians, as well as a mass audience

Do We Need Help Using Yelp? Regulating Advertising on Mediated Reputation Systems

Yelp, Angie’s List, Avvo, and similar entities enable consumers to access an incredibly useful trove of information about peer experiences with businesses and their goods and services. These “mediated reputation systems,” gatherers and disseminators of consumer peer opinions, are more trusted by consumers than traditional commercial channels. They are omnipresent, carried everywhere on mobile devices, and used by consumers ready to transact. Though this information is valuable, a troubling conflict emerges in its presentation. Most of these reputation platforms rely heavily on advertising sales to support their business models. This reliance compels these entities to display persuasive advertising right along with their presentation of authentic peer information. Consumers expecting to access this authentic peer information must also confront a persuasive message. The revenue lifeblood for these platforms comes from the very businesses under peer review. This Article argues that the power of peer information provides an exceptionally credible context for persuasive advertising. Accordingly, advertising on reputation platforms should trigger more rigorous regulation in the form of disclosure requirements and prioritized enforcement

"Jane sent me this article, so it must be true!" - How tie strength and emotional tone influence information behavior

Fake news are a threat of the information age, yet many factors that determine their spread, such as emotional tone and tie strength, remain under-researched. Responding to calls for research, we developed an experimental study that explains the impact of emotional tone and tie strength in the context of instant messaging. We hypothesize effects on the willingness to fact-check and intention to share, mediated by sender credibility and news believability. Our results will contribute to the academic literature on various levels: we consider the emotional and relational dimensions of fake news sharing. Furthermore, we provide a multidimensional understanding of the emotionality of strong-tie contacts sharing fake news in a seemingly private and safe environment. For policymakers, we provide insights that help detect fake news, and we provide individuals with persuasion knowledge to self-protect against fake news

Does incidental mean indiscriminate? a study of incidental news consumption's effect on processing of claims in health news

Since the 2016 election, fake news has taken center stage in the American news landscape. The risk of fake news being widely disseminated and widely believed is a great fear for many, and this study addresses factors associated with our tendencies in consuming fake news. Specifically, this study asks how incidental news consumption affects a person's news discernment. Prior research suggests that people may consume news "incidentally" or accidentally online, and the context in which they are viewing news may alter their ability to critically understand and engage with it. A lack of conscious intent in a user's news consumption can have negative consequences, such as a lack of political participation and poor media literacy. Therefore, this study attempts to understand how news habits are associated with a person's ability to discern between true and false claims in health news. To do so, this study hypothesizes that incidental news exposure is negatively associated with news media discernment, or in other words, people who mostly consume news incidentally are not equipped to discern between real and fake news. The results showed, in line with the hypothesis, that incidental, or passive, news consumers were more likely to view fake news as more accurate and less biased than their active news consumer counterparts, and less likely to view real news as accurate and unbiased than their active news consumer counterparts, suggesting that active news consumers are more discerning

Debunking of fake news in Telegram in 2022: comparative study

The headlines of the leading world media have been changed when the war between Russia and Ukraine started. Debunking of fake news became a key importance in the work of news media as unverified information is leading to the loss of respectability. There are certain procedures of fact-checking that are well-recognized by the international journalist society. Unlike generally accepted rules, Telegram publishing policies differ from many social networks, as in Telegram there is no moderation of published content that gives a great opportunity to produce fake news and as the result of it - quick mass disinformation. Despite the fact that Telegram is one of the fastest growing social networks, there are few studies about debunking fake news in Telegram. Therefore, this research carried out a comparative study between Russian and Ukrainian anti-fake Telegram channels during one week in March 2022, in order to discover the debunking procedures that have been used by the authors of those channels. Along with the researches of content analysis which are introduced by Lasswell and Bardin, the author used, during the investigation, the methodological approaches that gained widespread popularity in the modern era - the era of «post truth». For the purpose of the study, the author sought for the difference in the debunking policies between Russian and Ukrainian channels. In order to understand the intentions of the channels, the author analyzed the emotional, subtextual and allegorical background of the publications. Telegram channels use provocative content in which the researcher found elements of propaganda. This study finds out that there is different content on the Telegram channels of both sides of the conflict. Telegram channels use semantic instruments in order to increase the audience. The findings would be beneficial for the journalist community, as well as for the entire audience, who should take care of verification of information and do better fact-checking.As manchetes dos principais meios de comunicação mundiais foram alteradas quando a guerra entre a Rússia e a Ucrânia começou. O desmascaramento de notícias falsas tornou-se uma importância fundamental no trabalho da mídia de notícias, pois informações não verificadas estão levando à perda de respeitabilidade. Existem certos procedimentos de checagem de fatos que são bem reconhecidos pela sociedade internacional de jornalistas. Ao contrário das regras geralmente aceitas, as políticas de publicação do Telegram diferem de muitas redes sociais, pois no Telegram não há moderação de conteúdo publicado que dá uma grande oportunidade de produzir notícias falsas e como resultado disso - desinformação em massa rápida. Apesar do Telegram ser uma das redes sociais que mais crescem, há poucos estudos sobre desmascarar notícias falsas no Telegram. Portanto, esta pesquisa realizou um estudo comparativo entre os canais anti-falsos do Telegram russo e ucraniano durante uma semana de março de 2022, a fim de descobrir os procedimentos de desmascaramento que foram usados pelos autores desses canais. Juntamente com as pesquisas de análise de conteúdo que são introduzidas por Lasswell e Bardin, o autor utilizou, durante a investigação, as abordagens metodológicas que ganharam grande popularidade na era moderna - a era da «pós-verdade». Para fins do estudo, o autor buscou a diferença nas políticas de desmascaramento entre os canais russos e ucranianos. Para entender as intenções dos canais, o autor analisou o pano de fundo emocional, subtextual e alegórico das publicações. Os canais do Telegram usam conteúdo provocativo em que o pesquisador encontrou elementos de propaganda. Este estudo descobre que há conteúdos diferentes nos canais do Telegram de ambos os lados do conflito. Os canais do Telegram utilizam instrumentos semânticos para aumentar a audiência. As descobertas seriam benéficas para a comunidade jornalística, bem como para todo o público, que deveria cuidar da verificação das informações e fazer uma melhor checagem de fatos