How and why‘ fake news’ is spreading on social media

In recent years, the term fake news has plagued social media, news outlets and everyday conversations; but how did we get here? And, why is it such a big deal?

Before going any further, it is important to note that the definition of fake news is different for everyone. And although the term fake news seems to be fairly safe explanatory as it is a compound modifier made up of two fairly common words (fake and news), the term, as a whole, carries a very controversial and heavy connotation.

There is no one authority that can make a global definition for fake news, according to Sharyl Attkissonon her TEDx talk about fake news. Attkinson points out that “each side defines fake news in terms that call the other guy into question,” making the definition of fake news, according to her, completely subjective to the person’s beliefs.

This is one part of the problem. Although the term does have a definition, everyone seems to “recognize” fake news as something they disagree with, making it nearly impossible to change this mentality.

The second part of the problem is that social media has allowed scandalous and poorly-researched “news” articles to circulate and go viral. It is no secret that attention-grabbing content is more popular on social media (there is even a term for it now: “click-bait”) and news have also fallen prey to this trap.

Social media have made sharing content online so easy that most people don’t even think twice about it. Most people don’t stop to question the credibility of the author or news outlet and much less question if the story is true. It has become the norm to only share content that we agree with, no matter how accurate it is.

Social media and fake news are slowly polarizing the U.S. by encouraging confirmation bias. We only interact with content we agree with and share content that supports our beliefs, no matter the accuracy; and if there is content out there we don’t agree with, we call that fake news.

As a society we have a tendency to call anything we disagree with “fake news,” however, we could very well be sharing fake news, just because we agree with it.

How can we stop the spread of fake news?

The easiest way to verify the accuracy of information is to check the source of that information. Ask yourself: Is this a reliable source? Do they appear to strongly favor or dislike this topic/person? Is this source well known? Do they share this type of content regularly? Are other news outlets sharing this information? Am I having a strong emotional reaction to this?

When you pause and ask yourself these questions, you will probably find that some of the content you see is actually fake news. Taking just a few minutes to verify the accuracy of online content can help stop the spread of fake news.

For other tips on how to spot fake news, check out these guides.

• Huff Post: How To Recognize A Fake News Story
• The News Literacy Project: Ten Questions For Fake News Detection