Toward a Comprehensive Model of Fake News: A New Approach to Examine the Creation and Sharing of False Information
Abstract
:1. Introduction
Fake News
2. Fake News Model Overview
2.1. A New Comprehensive Model for Fake News
- Which characteristics and conditions are evident in users most and least likely to share fake news?
- What do the creators of fake news intend by sharing it?
- What combination of factors between the ‘actor’ and ‘acted upon’ most align the desired outcomes of creating fake news with the actual results? (i.e., how effective or successful is a fake news story in attaining its intended goal?)
- What characteristics of fake news make it more or less likely to be shared?
- What factors contribute to an actor becoming acted upon? Conversely, what factors contribute to the acted upon becoming actors/agents in sharing fake news?
2.2. The Actor and Agency
2.3. The ‘Acted Upon’
- (1)
- Users’ level of trust online;
- (2)
- Users’ level of online self-disclosure;
- (3)
- Users’ amount of social comparison;
- (4)
- Users’ level of ‘Fear Of Missing Out’ (FOMO) anxiety;
- (5)
- Users’ level of social media fatigue;
- (6)
- Users’ concepts of self and their role identity;
- (7)
- Users’ educational level/attainment.
2.4. New Additions: Self-Identification, Role, and Education Attainment
3. Discussion: Implications for Research and Potential Directions
3.1. ‘Solving’ Fake News with Critical Thinking and Information Literacy: The Limits to Relying Entirely on Educational Outcomes
3.2. Meeting in the Muddled Middle
3.2.1. When Does the Acted upon Become the Actor (and Vice-Versa)?
Those who spend their time in the library of the unreal have an abundance of something that is scarce in college classrooms: information agency. One of the powers they feel elites have tried to withhold from them is the ability to define what constitutes knowledge. They don’t simply distrust what the experts say; they distrust the social systems that create expertise. They take pleasure in claiming expertise for themselves, on their own terms.[5]
3.2.2. How Effective Is Fake News?
4. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Weiss, A.P.; Alwan, A.; Garcia, E.P.; Kirakosian, A.T. Toward a Comprehensive Model of Fake News: A New Approach to Examine the Creation and Sharing of False Information. Societies 2021, 11, 82. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc11030082
Weiss AP, Alwan A, Garcia EP, Kirakosian AT. Toward a Comprehensive Model of Fake News: A New Approach to Examine the Creation and Sharing of False Information. Societies. 2021; 11(3):82. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc11030082
Chicago/Turabian StyleWeiss, Andrew P., Ahmed Alwan, Eric P. Garcia, and Antranik T. Kirakosian. 2021. "Toward a Comprehensive Model of Fake News: A New Approach to Examine the Creation and Sharing of False Information" Societies 11, no. 3: 82. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc11030082