Disinformation is one of the worst evils of the 21st century. In a hyperconnected world that generates unthinkable amounts of data, it is to be expected that there will be those who take advantage of this. Today's frenetic pace of life and the desire for immediacy make it difficult for us to check the information we receive. All this has allowed the generation of Fake News or fake news. This phenomenon is rapidly invading Social Networks and some of its consequences are very negative.
At Zemsania Global Group, as specialists in technological services and solutions, we help you overcome misinformation.
Although social social networks promote freedom of expression and encourage communication, they are the ideal platform for spreading Fake News. However, not all these news have a hostile objective; there are those that only seek to entertain the user. Below we explore what types of Fake News exist.
Types of Fake News in Social Networks
Although most of the fake news is framed in fraudulent websites, all of them are usually shared on Social Networks.
- Disinformation campaign. These campaigns consist of publishing false content to damage reputations. For example, after the recent shooting at a Florida high school, a series of Russian bots created discord by issuing controversial opinions about it. The aim of these maneuvers is to divide society and introduce misconceptions to users.
- Manipulated content. They start from the basis of quality content, but modify it to adapt their message. In this way, they can put words in someone else's mouth that the victim would never utter. Even if the user eventually becomes aware of the hoax, the first contact with this content is usually positive.
- Fraudulent content. It is original content but absolutely false. They use their own information based on data without any basis.
- Stolen content. They are based on the modification of the original source to appropriate the content. The objective of these Fake News is to gain visibility by exploiting other people's quality content.
- Out of context. These are authentic contents, without falsehoods, but framed in a different context to which they belong. In this way, the final message is totally distorted without the need to modify the message too much.
- Satire or parody. In the case of satirical content, it is not intended to do any harm. However, they can confuse the user. In Spain we find The World Today, which publishes fake news for humorous purposes. The problem is that some people may believe their headlines, no matter how ridiculous they may seem.
In most cases, the Fake News uses the Clickbait to attract attention. This fraudulent technique uses shocking headlines that attract the user's attention. You may be familiar with headlines like the following, for example «you won't believe what happens next».
Tips to avoid fake news
The vast majority of Fake News are easy to detect. It is only necessary to take a minute to examine certain aspects of the news:
- Browse URL. Look closely at the URL code of the content. In order to publish fraudulent news, sometimes they link to URLs very similar to those of reliable and popular websites.
- Investigate the source. Consider who wrote the content and whether they are active or not. With a brief search on the Internet you can check if it is a reliable author.
- Analyze the images. Many images will have been taken from elsewhere on the web. Look for foreign logos and take into account the editing of the image, which is usually unprofessional. If any graphic content does not match you are facing a fake news.
- Check out the website. Most Fake News are hosted on websites that mimic other reputable websites. They will try to simulate sidebars, headers and sections, but usually most of the functions will not be operational.
- Contrast the information. Use Google or any other search engine to research any topic. If it's real, you'll find hundreds of entries easily. If it's not, get suspicious.
Measures to deal with this problem
Despite all the difficulties generated by this fraudulent content, social networks are taking action. Facebook is driving the bots elimination, the increase in moderators, the limitation of political advertising or the post personalization. For its part, YouTube has updated its anti-harassment policy to include fraudulent videos.
Some experts have already coined the term Infocalypse, The reality is becoming more and more distorted, since there are more and more tools to distort reality. This has made users fed up and some are already taking the law into their own hands. Without going any further, Data Scientist Zach Estela has created an algorithm to avoid Fake News.
As we can see, this is a real problem that can lead to conflicts. Therefore, it is important to contrast the content we consume on the Internet. This is not easy in the era of Big Data, but it is everyone's responsibility to keep the truth alive.