Description
Recently, the phenomenon of fake news and its social consequences have caught the attention of the public as well as academia. Although the term “fake news” has traditionally been associated with comedic television programs which employ political satire, the term has recently undergone a transformation and now includes disinformation maliciously spread by outlets that mimic legitimate news sources via social networking sites (SNSs). Thus, it is important to understand how users view and identify fake news, and what SNSs can do to minimize its negative consequences. In this study, grounded in the epistemology of testimony, we propose a research model to clarify how news sources as well as characteristics of an individual’s online social network affect their willingness to verify news found on SNSs. Specifically, we investigate how social tie variety, perceived cognitive homogeneity, trust in network, and perceived media credibility influence an individual’s news verification behavior.
Recommended Citation
Gerhart, Natalie; Torres, Russell; and Negahban, Arash, "Combatting Fake News: An Investigation of Individuals’ Information Verification Behaviors on Social Networking Sites" (2017). AMCIS 2017 Proceedings. 6.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2017/SocialComputing/Presentations/6
Combatting Fake News: An Investigation of Individuals’ Information Verification Behaviors on Social Networking Sites
Recently, the phenomenon of fake news and its social consequences have caught the attention of the public as well as academia. Although the term “fake news” has traditionally been associated with comedic television programs which employ political satire, the term has recently undergone a transformation and now includes disinformation maliciously spread by outlets that mimic legitimate news sources via social networking sites (SNSs). Thus, it is important to understand how users view and identify fake news, and what SNSs can do to minimize its negative consequences. In this study, grounded in the epistemology of testimony, we propose a research model to clarify how news sources as well as characteristics of an individual’s online social network affect their willingness to verify news found on SNSs. Specifically, we investigate how social tie variety, perceived cognitive homogeneity, trust in network, and perceived media credibility influence an individual’s news verification behavior.