Twitter: Users believe fake news in dangerous situations
Most active users of the short message service Twitter tend to Fake News in dangerous situations by retweeting or liking the original post. However, if the adopted information is exposed as untruths, only around 20 percent correct their false publications. This is the result of a recent study by researchers at the University at Buffalo.
If a study of Twitter comments is to be believed, rampant rumors remain "rumors." "As far as we can tell, this is the first study to examine how Twitter users can debunk falsehoods during disasters. Unfortunately, the results generate an unflattering picture," explains study author Jun Zhuang. According to the results of the study, users are always most active in spreading fake news when an event affecting the public is still in progress - such as terrorist attacks, accidents or natural disasters.
Three types of user behavior
The researchers studied three types of user behavior. Twitter users may retweet fake news, try to confirm it through research, or generally doubt it. They found that 86 to 91 percent of users simply share fake news by retweeting or liking the original post. Only five to nine percent try to research apparent fake news - typically by retweeting and asking if the information is correct.
Laziness instead of correction
Just one to nine percent of users express doubts when they believe they have discovered fake news. Even when fake information is debunked on Twitter and in traditional news media, less than ten percent of users who had fallen for the fake news delete their retweets on the topic. Less than 20 percent re-tweet to correct themselves after the fact.
Find out more about the Fake News study here
