The topic of fake news and their distribution on the Internet has become particularly popular in recent years. Often, for the large amount of bogus postings on the web, bots are reported to be the culprit who post and share fake news on social networks. A study by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), however, mentions people as the main reason for the popularity of fake news, Science News reported.
Scientists have analyzed 4.5 million tweets in Twitter for the period from 2006 to 2017. The results show that incorrect news always spreads much faster and more people in the microblog. In addition, there is an indication that people are sharing the counterfeit news more often.
The analysis shows that discussions about fake news often start with fewer sources of tweets, but then they are gaining much more popularity and are often "revived" tens of thousands of times. However, the correct news never reaches more than 1600 people from a tweed source. At the same time, they are spread six times slower than the time for which a fake news reaches 1500 people.
The analysis of scientists also shows consumers' tendency to replicate more fake news than real ones. On average, one fake news is 70% more likely to be the user's peruit than fair news.
Initially, the study was done by filtering bots traffic to see the actions of real people. Then, the traffic from the automatic software was added to the test. It turns out that bots are spreading fake and popular news almost evenly. This is another indication that it is people who are more responsible for the large spread of fake news on the Internet.
Scientists have several explanations for this phenomenon. First, fake news often sounds and looks more interesting, more sensational. This attracts the attention of more people. Secondly, fake news often causes more dispute between people. Part of them believe and share them, others share it to notice that this is a fake news and try to overthrow it.
In both versions, it is precisely false and not real-life news that is gaining more interaction with users on social networks. The study is not intended to provide concrete answers but rather a basis for their search by presenting a larger sample of users' actions. It is obvious that fighting counterfeit news is not a matter of blocking bots, it is a much more complex and in-depth process.