Social media is utilized as a tool to share and gain news information in a fast and convenient way. Platforms such as Facebook and Twitter can reach a wide audience and as a result, more people are exposed to false and misleading information which is known as fake news.
People rely on social media to gain their dose of daily news updates but come across misleading headlines, posts, and articles as they scroll through their timelines.
They depend on media outlets to provide them with accurate information but online trolls can cause mistrust between consumers and legitimate news organizations.
Fake news on social media is notably shared during election periods as users are tricked into believing that certain fake news is accurate.
Clickbait and false information can cause a shift in decision making. There are concerns that fake news can even threaten democracy by influencing the result of elections.
According to Buzzfeed News, fake election news stories gained more engagement on Facebook than accurate news stories during the final three months leading up to the 2016 presidential election. During that period, the top inaccurate news story claimed that Pope Francis endorsed Donald Trump and gained 960,000 total engagements on Facebook.
Social media companies are introducing strategies that they hope will limit the spread of fake news across their platforms. Ahead of the 2020 presidential election, Facebook announced it would crack down on content created by artificial intelligence, look into fake accounts, and will partner with various agencies such as the government to identify creators behind false news.
During the digital age, people are using social media to attain news information but stumble upon misinformation which they believe. As a result, social media organizations are continuing to create aggressive tactics with the goal of limiting fake news and garnering more trust from consumers.
