Misinformation

Key Words: fake news, social media, political discourse, bias, fact-checking

Social media has allowed all kinds of information to be communicated to individuals throughout the world which has improved political discourse throughout society. However, with all the information being spread there is still a risk of people coming across and spreading misinformation either intentionally or unintentionally. In addition to the growing spread of misinformation, it is difficult to identify which information is true and which is false along with it being difficult to stop others from spreading misinformation.

How Misinformation is Spread
The spread of misinformation can be partially attributed to human behavior rather than any mechanism on social media platforms. To explain, individuals have a tendency to look for information that supports one's ideologies, and when they find such information, they are more likely to "adopt and re-share" these ideas. Due to this reasoning, misinformation can spread unbeknownst to individuals as they find false information that agrees with their beliefs and do no question it before they share it on social media.

Additionally, people may overestimate their ability to identify if information is false or not. One research study from Pew Research Center found that 64% of Americans believe that fake news has caused confusion surrounding political news; however, 84% of the individuals in the research still are either somewhat or very confident in their ability to determine fake news. Although at a glance, this research makes it seems as though individuals are aware of fake news online, considering that the majority of people stated they were truly aware of what news is fake or not, yet there would be a smaller percent of individuals who believed misinformation causes confusion in political news. Yet, there is a large percentage of individuals who believe that there is a significant amount of confusion caused by fake news in correspondence with the large percentage of people who are confident in their ability to spot fake news. It is evident that individuals may be biased toward their ability to differentiate between real and fake news.

Misinformation Persists on Social Media
There is very little accountability when it comes to spreading false information on social media. There are no requirements for users to substantiate claims with credible sources. Unless the account in question has a significant following, or the post is very popular/controversial, moderators will not dedicate much effort to monitoring content to make sure it is legitimate. Because there is a massive amount of users that do not match these criteria for close moderation, a massive amount of misinformative posts and comments plague social media platforms.

This effect can and has been loosely quantified by a number of esteemed institutions. The Pew Research Center, to name one, has conducted several related studies that each express this misinformation in a slightly different manner. That variety of expression is instrumental in discerning the root cause of social media’s misinformation issue. In one study, Pew Research found that out of 7 different media platforms, those who relied on social media as their primary news source were the 6th least informed, scoring only above local television. This study alone very plainly shows how poor the quality of information on social media might be, but once again, subsequent studies in the database help explain the cause. Rather than just gauging political knowledge, Pew Research also looked at the educational attainment and household income of those who use each of the 7 platforms. Once again, they found that those who use social media primarily lagged behind many of the other platform users in both education and income.

While it is possible for social media itself to make users less informed than other platforms, social media usage has no effect on one’s income and education. This means that fault may not lie entirely on social media for having uninformed users. While part of the problem can be attributed to poor moderation, it is also very likely that the largest contributor is the users themselves. There are many reasons for one to have low educational attainment. Social media is most popular among youths, which is likely the reason for this gap. The fact remains however that a large number of social media users are uneducated, and if a large group of uneducated people are concentrated to discuss politics, misinformation is bound to spread- regardless of the platform. While misinformation in social media is a large problem, social media is not the problem; people are.

Preventative Measures to Stop the Spread of Misinformation
In recent year, many social media platforms have been working to combat the spread of misinformation on the internet. Some of the ways that this is done is through labeling platforms or posts that provide misinformation. Some strategies include directing users to more reliable sources, engaging in fact checking, and changing algorithms to limit the spread of false information.

Although many of these solutions are effective, such as directing users to reliable sources, there are still complications that come with changing algorithms which have been known to unjustly take down unrelated or truly informative content. Additionally, there have been cases where algorithm suppress certain opinions or content more than others. Nonetheless, although there are still issues when trying to stop the spread of misinformation, this is a key step toward effective political discourse on social media. Social Media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram have already taken steps to ensure that misinformation has been slowed down at least. By banning Donald Trump on his platforms, Twitter and Instagram have helped prevent his influence and stopped the spread of more misinformation from him directly.

Related Links
The Paradox of Participation Versus Misinformation: Social Media, Political Engagement, and the Spread of Misinformation

Americans Who Mainly Get Their News on Social Media Are Less Engaged, Less Knowledgeable

Asian Americans outraged by inaction over hate crimes: "I'm just fighting for us to be seen"

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