Fake News and Public Perception of Social Media News
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.57096/edunity.v4i9.435Keywords:
fake news, misinformation, media literacy, public perception, social mediaAbstract
This study explored the impact of misinformation on public opinion regarding stories and information on social media, focusing on factors that influence users' perception and engagement. The primary emphasis is on explaining the impact of deception in shaping media outlets' credibility and how deception constructs narratives within society. The study employed the Theory of Rumor Transmission and the Technological Determinism Theory, which explain news diffusion patterns in the online environment and the influence of technology on communication practices. A qualitative research design was adopted. Findings revealed that the consumption of fake news is strongly linked to increased mistrust of traditional media, leading individuals to seek alternative, largely unverified sources. Additionally, the propagation of misinformation is autocatalytic in echo chambers, contributing to heightened polarization of individuals' views. The study concludes that preventing issues arising from fake news is crucial to fostering an educated citizenry. In light of these findings, it is recommended that social media platforms implement strict fact-checking mechanisms, integrate media literacy into school curricula, and establish governance frameworks that hold platforms accountable for the dissemination of disinformation while safeguarding freedom of speech.
References
Afana, N. H., Astuti, N. W., & Sari, M. P. (2021). The relationship between Instagram usage & body image of social media influencer followers: Social comparison as a mediator. In International Conference on Economics, Business, Social, and Humanities (ICEBSH 2021) (pp. 1328-1334). Atlantis Press. https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.210805.208
Benkler, Y., Faris, R., & Roberts, H. (2018). Network propaganda: Manipulation, disinformation, and radicalisation in American politics. Oxford University Press.
Cooke, R. (2017). Fake news: The misinformation playbook. Social Media + Society, 3(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305117716887
Dantas, R. M., Aftab, H., Aslam, S., Majeed, M. U., Correia, A. B., Qureshi, H. A., & Lucas, J. L. (2022). Empirical investigation of work-related social media usage and social-related social media usage on employees' work performance. Behavioral Sciences, 12(8), Article 297. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs12080297
Emameh, E. A., Nelson, H., & Oguntola, A. (2018). The impact of fake news on national security in Nigeria: A critical analysis. Journal of Communication and Media Research, 10(2), 29-38.
Field-Fote, E. E. (2019). Fake news in science. Journal of Neurologic Physical Therapy, 43(3), 139-140. https://doi.org/10.1097/NPT.0000000000000285
Friggeri, A., Jamieson, K. H., & McGowan, M. (2019). Rumour cascades in social networks. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(6), 2006-2011. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1810735116
Ge, J. (2019). Social media-based visual humour use in tourism marketing: A semiotic perspective. European Journal of Humour Research, 7(3), 40-56. https://doi.org/10.7592/EJHR2019.7.3.ge
Gentzkow, M. (2017). The effect of online news on political awareness and participation: Evidence from a quasi-experiment. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 9(3), 75-97. https://doi.org/10.1257/app.20170126
Ghosh, D., & Scott, B. (2020). The impact of disinformation on democracy: Exploring collective action and collaboration across social media platforms. Information, Communication & Society, 23(8), 1115-1135. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2020.1738725
Griffin, E. M., & Nwabueze, U. (2014). A first look at communication theory. McGraw-Hill.
Kperogi, F. (2017). Fake news and the current government narratives in Nigeria. Nigerian Communication Journal, 15(2), 15-30.
Langin, K. (2018, March 8). Fake news spreads faster than real news: Study. Science Magazine. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/03/fake-news-spreads-faster-real-news-study
Lazer, D. M. J., Baum, M. A., Benkler, Y., Berinsky, A. J., Greenhill, K. M., Menczer, F., Metzger, M. J., Nyhan, B., Pennycook, G., Rothschild, D., Schudson, M., Sloman, S. A., Sunstein, C. R., Thorson, E. A., Watts, D. J., & Zittrain, J. L. (2018). The science of fake news: Addressing fake news requires a multidisciplinary effort. Science, 359(6380), 1094-1096. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aao2998
Lewandowsky, S. (2017). Science communication: The challenge of fake news. The Scientist, 31(1), 58. https://doi.org/10.1085/jgp.201611556
Mihailidis, P., & Viotty, S. (2017). Media literacy in a digital age: The role of critical thinking in combating fake news. Communication Teacher, 31(3), 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1080/17404622.2017.1307767
Mosseri, A. (2016, December 15). Addressing hoaxes and fake news. Meta Newsroom. https://about.fb.com/news/2016/12/addressing-hoaxes-and-fake-news/
Muigai, M. (2019). Typology of false news: Implications for media literacy and fact-checking. Journal of Media Literacy Education, 11(1), 1-15.
Nwabueze, U. (2014). Social media as a tool for media convergence in Nigeria: Evidence from Nigeria's 2011 presidential election. Media and Journalism, 8(1), 1-25.
Ogbette, O. (2019). Social media information overload in Nigeria: The role of online communities in information sharing. Journal of African Media Studies, 11(3), 367-380. https://doi.org/10.1386/jams_00014_1
Pew Research Center. (2021, March 4). The state of online news: A global perspective. https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2021/03/04/the-state-of-online-news-2021/
Statista. (2019). Number of internet users in Nigeria from 2017 to 2023. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1177156/nigeria-number-of-internet-users/
Sullivan, A. (2019). The misinformation challenge: Fake news and the spread of disinformation. Journalism Studies, 20(12), 1759-1776. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2019.1592673
Thorsten, P., Lena, M., Svenja, L., & Tim, G. (2019). Understanding internet users' behaviour regarding the sharing of fake news: A study on the determinants of online sharing. Internet Research, 29(2), 292-319. https://doi.org/10.1108/IntR-07-2018-0277
Vosoughi, S., Roy, D., & Aral, S. (2018). The spread of true and false news online. Science, 359(6380), 1146-1151. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aap9559
Zhao, S., Xu, W., & Zha, L. (2018). Detecting fake news in social media: A multi-disciplinary approach. First Monday, 23(5). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v23i5.8688
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Collins Onyema Esiobu, Ifeanyi Martins Nwokeocha, George Nathan Brown, Ifechukwu Nchedo Okoye
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under aCreative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC-BY-SA). that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
