Fake news and social media
Impact of Fake News on Social Media
Introduction
Fake news is a false information with an outrageous headline to attract more attention and
which pretends to be real news. It is propaganda of the misleading information.
Fake news existed always and its goal was from fun to death. Before writing was
invented, people shared information between them via word of mouth. Later, material as stone,
clay and papyrus was used to write information. The leader of the group controlled the
information that is shared and had an impact on others. It became easier and faster to share the
information when printing press was invented. Literacy was a factor that influenced the fake
news to develop. Books, newspaper, broadsides and cartoons are the forms of printing press.
Once internet became affordable to the average consumers, creating and posting misinformation
were easier. People can have access instantly to information, but they should be prudent what to
trust.
Thesis
The conception of fake news is not new and social media is a good platform to spread
misinformation. News media companies and fake news creators are competitors, especially when
in world happens bad events. In this period is very easy to create and spread a fake news. Mass
media doesn’t have enough resources and power to verify or stop the misinformation that is
posted. People can use fact-checking websites or install tools on their browsers that will help to
distinguish a fake news. Another good method of fighting with fake news is to teach people how
to identify the information they read is false.
Fake news and social media
Fake news is not a new problem. Today anyone who has a computer and access to the
internet can share anything they want. Internet is the best platform to spread information, and
popular social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter can share it to millions of readers.
Social media helps the misinformation to spread widely and faster. Miller (2018) affirms
“Facebook in particular has come under fire for being a vehicle for spreading falsehoods” (p.6).
A group of experts during the session at SXSW (South by Southwest – conference takes place
every year in Austin, Texas. Popular people connect at this event to speak about educational
innovations and new interesting ideas) argued that controlling the spreading fake news is not
only the responsibility of social media platforms, but is a societal problem too. Fake news is not
a simple problem and requires hard work to resolve it.
Social media becomes a great source of spreading misinformation when in the world
