Who Shares Fake News?
Who shares fake news and misinformation? Professor Hemant Kakker and Ph.D. student Asher Lawson have made some new discoveries that go beyond the usual suspects. Their research was published by PsychNet and they wrote a summary for Politico.
They find, among other things, that it’s not the political right at large that wishes to share fake news and spread misinformation. While most conservatives do not spread fake news, the majority of fake news is still spread by a small contingent of those who identify politically as conservative.
“Low conscientious conservatives” are 2.5 times more likely to share fake news than other conservatives and liberals. In other words, people who do not desire to fact-check their sources or do proper research because they “do their own confirmation bias research” share misinformation. This checks out. Carelessness begets more carelessness. Especially when you are already care more about your own tribe than others.
None of the usual suspects are at fault for why “LCCs” share misinformation. But where the study gets particularly intriguing is the motivation behind these “LCCs” desire to share misinformation. You might expect something like high allegiance to Trump, too much time on social media, distrust of media, or buying too much into conservative ideals to be a motivator. But according to Kakker and Lawson, none of those explain the difference.
Instead, the study shows the motivation is a desire for chaos. Conservatives who talk about wanting to upend the regular order and do away with norms so long as they retain power are willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen.
This new understanding of how and why misinformation spreads is enlightening. But it shouldn’t be that shocking. As the saying goes, hurt people hurt people. Or maybe it would be better to say that people who don’t care about others really don’t care about others.
However, the question remains what can be done to stop misinformation? Kakker and Lawson say that fact-checking offers a small amount of correction. Still, if we’re talking about people predisposed to do whatever it takes to see their tribe increase, fact-checking won’t cut it.
No, it’s going to take more than just better fact-checkers or even more stringent controls on social media, though both would help. Instead, it seems the only solution is to convince “LCCs” to care more about people. As this CNN piece on QAnon and cults points out, these people need someone to listen, care, and offer correction.
The only way we get out of this current mess is to model a way of caring about others to people who generally don’t seem to care much for others. It is not an easy way forward, but it is a way forward. And, besides, nothing worthwhile is rarely easy.
3 More Things
1) Radicalization pipelines: How targeted advertising on social media drives people to extremes by Jeanna Matthews at The Conversation. – As if we needed any more reason to be mad at social media, Matthews shows how algorithms target our basest desires. The piece also really calls into question the idea of doing your research via social media. Even for those who would otherwise say we care about others or care about morals. Social media is designed to put us in silos to more effectively target and silo us.
2) America Is Falling Apart at the Seams by David Brooks at The New York Times. – Brooks is commenting on some worrying new trends in American social life. In short, Americans are more on edge than ever and taking it out on, well, anyone. This doesn’t explain “LCCs” but is a good reminder of the historical moment that we are in. Brooks ends up, though unintentionally, giving a good reason why we should be treating each other with more care.
3) Trump's Electoral Forgery/Fraud: The smoking guns are all around us by Charlie Sykes. Sykes provide a helpful summary of some of the recent news regarding the efforts of Trump allies to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.