Kelsey Neufeld
Twitter is a popular social media outlet that is used by people all around the world. Even though the source only allows a measly 140 word limit and the option to post photo and video, it has become a very powerful news spreading network. Although this widely viewed news source is briefly read it is very rarely truthful or accurate, and it has taken the world of news by storm. As you scroll through twitter with the mindset that not everything is true, it is very evident that fake news is all around us. Many studies have shown that false news is proven to spread way faster and get retweeted more often than correct news in any shape or form with real news taking six times as long to reach twitter users in comparison to fake news (Fox).
A research study was conducted by MIT’s Soroush Vosoughi, after the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. Most of the general population go to twitter for updates on tragedies like this one to try and find out what has happened and why. Vosoughi decided to check out the feed on twitter stating that “twitter became our main source of news, I realized that a good chunk of what I was reading on social media was rumors.” Him and his colleagues used a variety of websites that sort out fake articles from true ones and found that out of 126,000 stories, false news stories were tweeted 70 percent more frequently than real stories (Meyer). Fake news in events like this can be very heartbreaking for loved ones of the victims, and any false names released or incorrect information can have a lasting effect on families affected.
Image source: https://oursocialtimes.com/fake-news/
Above all other types of false news, political news seems to trump (no pun intended), all other types of news including natural disasters, terrorism, crime stories or financial stories. Fake news can come from all types of sources, even sources that are somewhat reliable most of the time. Most fake news sources are huge corporations looking to manipulate our everyday thinking, change election results and all around purposefully give out false information, although sometimes this information arises from regular people that spread incorrect information and their posts end up going viral. (Maheshwari) Because these are people just like us it is easier to connect with them and take the information as truthful without hesitation.
Although twitter is a huge source of fake news, Facebook leads the game in the 2017 statistics of what sources people believe to have the most fake news. Facebook is at 58 percent with twitter coming in after at 49 percent and Saturday Night Live at 39 percent (Statista). When you think about the statistics of how much fake news people think is out there it makes you wonder what is really true about the world. It is easy to be manipulated and believe anything you see. These fake news stories could have lasting effects on our society and what we believe to be true. Del Harvey, Global Vice President of Trust and Safety at Twitter, is not proud that the social media platform is a vital source of “day-to-day falsehoods” and defends that “We are proud of this use case and work diligently to ensure we are showing people context and a diverse range of perspectives as they engage in civic debate and conversations on our service” (Marrian). As long as you are aware of the sources you are getting your news from, and make sure the article is legitimate before sharing, the fake news on twitter can start to go into a decline and become a better place to find everyday news.
Works Cited
Fox, Maggie. “Fake News: Lies spread faster on social media than truth does.” NBC News. March 8, 2018. Updated March 9, 2018. www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/fake-news-lies-spread-faster-social-media-truth-does-n854896.
Maheshwari, Sapna. “How Fake News Goes Viral: A Case Study.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 22 Dec. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2016/11/20/business/media/how-fake-news-spreads.html.
Meyer, Robinson. “The Grim Conclusions of the Largest-Ever Study of Fake News.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 12 Mar. 2018, www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/03/largest-study-ever-fake-news-mit-twitter/555104/.
Statista. “Most Likely Source of Fake News in the U.S. 2017 | Statistic.” Statista, Statista, 2017, www.statista.com/statistics/697774/fake-news-sources/.
Zhou, Marrian. “Fake News on Twitter Is Still Reaching Millions, Study Finds.” CNET, CNET, 5 Oct. 2018, www.cnet.com/news/twitters-fake-news-problem-is-still-very-much-active-study-finds/.