WEEK 12 - The Internet

Question 1

what are the three kinds of misinformation ?

Answer 1

• Fake news
• False news
• Misleading reports

Question 2

what is “fake news” ?

Answer 2

fabricated stories designed to pass off as real stories often, they are created by websites that are designed to be confused with trusted websites

Question 3

what is “false news” ?

Answer 3

are stories that are false but were not purposely designed to be

Question 4

what are misleading reports ?

Answer 4

are stories that present things in misleading ways without being outright false

Question 5

what are three scenarios of misleading reports ?

Answer 5

• They might omit certain relevant details
• They might employ inappropriate emotional connotations
• They might contain exaggerated headlines (“click-bait” headlines)

Question 6

what does “new satire” mean ?

Answer 6

is a parody of mainstream news presented in the same style and format but fabricated (all made up)

Question 7

when did misleading info get very famous ?

Answer 7

with the 2016 US election (trump and hillary clinton)

Question 8

where is there a lot of fake news exposure ?

Answer 8

social media

Question 9

why is social media so harmful in regards to fake news exposure ?

Answer 9

social media spreads news way faster than traditional publications

Question 10

how does misinformation spread (social media)?

Answer 10

• Individuals are likely to share (or re-share) them without verifying that they are true
• The architecture of social media results in stories growing in popularity at an extremely fast rate

Question 11

why do people share falsehoods ?

Answer 11

• According to a recent study, 59% of links are shared on social media have not been visited by the sharers
  -Due to confirmation bias, people are less likely to be critical of ideas that they agree with and tha confirm their beliefs

Question 12

how much % of links that are shared on social media have not been visited by the sharers ?

Answer 12

59%

Question 13

why do news spread so fast one social media ?

Answer 13

each person shares with multiple persons, which results in an exponential growth of shares

Question 14

what are three factors that explains accelerated growth of fake news on social media ?

Answer 14

1. The more a story is shared, the more credibility it appears to have
2. The more a story is shared, the more distorted and “interesting” it gets
3. Highly shared stories are boosted on social media, so they are seen by more people

Question 15

why is misinformation so hard to stop ?

Answer 15

• False and fake news spread so fast that they have a big head start on rebuttals
• Because stories spread from person to person, a lot of people have to hear and accept the rebuttal in order for the story to stop spreading
• At the same time, the rebuttal is not interesting, so it does not spread

Question 16

what is the filter bubble ?

Answer 16

• We receive content from our friends, who we are more likely to agree with
• Social media platforms tend to provide content we are more likely to engage with based on past engagements

Question 17

what are four ways to protect yourself from misinformation on social media ?

Answer 17

• read the article
• check for sources
• check the aesthetics and writing style
• check for plausibility

Question 18

why is reading the article important for misinformation on social media ?

Answer 18

• don’t base your judgment simple on the headline
• read the article to find out what it’s actually about before believing it or engaging with it

Question 19

why is checking for sources important for misinformation on social media ?

Answer 19

• check for sources cited in an article
• “where does it get its information from” “does it sound accurate and trustworthy”

Question 20

why check the aesthetics and writting style for misinformation on social media ?

Answer 20

• Is the writing sloppy and full of grammatical mistakes ?
• Is the writing hyperbolic and emotionally loaded ?
• Does the article make you feel angry or indignant? Is there any sense of urgency ?

^ profession articles tend to avoid these

Question 21

how are social medias reacting to misinformation, etc?

Answer 21

Social media websites are taking steps to encourage articles and to detect, remove, and flag about fake false news