Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Do People Believe Fake News?


How many people actually believe the lies that the shadows behind the computers put out on a daily basis? Way more than you think. In 2016, fake news hit an all time high, and Statista conducted a survey to 3,015 people to discover what they believed of the perceived truth and and falseness of the fake news. What the respondents didn't know was that all the stories were fake. The first story said "Donald Trump sent his own plane to transport 200 stranded marines." An overwhelming 49% of people thought this was very accurate and 35% of people found it somewhat accurate. A second story said "FBI director Comey just put a Trump sign in his yard." Again, an overwhelming 40% found this very accurate and 41% found it somewhat accurate. These trends continue for 3 other potential stories and each time, the respondents find that the story is very or somewhat accurate in comparison to not very or not at all accurate. Does this mean the population is more susceptible to being tricked or scammed, that the general population is is more gullible than older generations, or that fake news creators are unfairly tricking us and taking advantage of a person's natural inquisitiveness and urge of curiosity.

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