Most Americans think they can spot fake news. They can't, study finds

[discocrisco01]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by Spazito (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: CNN

As many as three in four Americans overestimate their ability to spot false headlines -- and the worse they are at it, the more likely they are to share fake news, researchers reported Monday.
The study of surveys involving 8,200 people, which published in in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also showed Republicans are more likely to fall for fake news than Democrats are.
The team, led by Ben Lyons, a professor of communications at the University of Utah, showed study volunteers headlines presented in the format of how news articles would look if they appeared in a Facebook feed. They were also asked to rate their ability to determine whether stories were true.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/31/health/fake-news-study/index.html

[exboyfil]

1. BS detector and back of the envelope are very important

Last edited Tue Jun 1, 2021, 09:53 AM - Edit history (1)

Instead of Algebra II a class that combines economics, statistics, and real world business and science concepts would be useful for most not going into science, engineering, or quantitative business majors (and really those folks should also take this type of course). My father in law taught a Freshman Methods course for years at a university.

Well taught rhetoric and policy debate are also two classes that would help with this situation.

[modrepub]

19. Good Point

I think part of the problem in education is that we've emphasized math and science while removing "soft" topics like philosophy and rhetoric. That seems to have lead people with an inflated feeling of understanding and the inability to critically analyze things. There also seems to be a lot of people who are unable or unwilling to really step back and analyze their positions in light of new information. They seem more apt to double down and avoid admitting they were wrong.

[Midnight Writer]

2. How do I know this is true?

[mahina]

6. Is the question we start with always

[Ferrets are Cool]

3. Hell, I can barely tell The Onion anymore

2016 changed everything.

[BigmanPigman]

14. Bingo!!!

[yonder]

4. Sounds like the psychology this report refers to

would be related to the Dunning-Krueger Effect: the less you know the more you think you know. And the inverse of that too.

[aggiesal]

5. And 100% of (R)'s think real news is fake news ...

The result from the his study will be considered fake news in the RW echo chamber.

[PSPS]

7. This study used the Facebook format and zuckerberg intentionally makes it hard to distinguish.

[andym]

8. What feature is most problematic: overconfidence

The worst at detecting fake news literally con themselves about how good they are at spotting fake news. Remind you of the former guy much?

[certainot]

11. for authoritarians the studies show certainty is more important than truth

it's a common malady called sex on the wrong brain

[andym]

13. That link is hysterical

fake science done right.

[certainot]

23. but it's true! trumpism greed authoritarianism racism as a heritable 'old world' masturbation prob!

the book is definitely funny.

but i like the idea of a unified theory of human thought and behavior and it makes a lot of sense, going back millions of years, explaining why 90% of humans are right handed, why most of the violent jerks on the planet are male, why we keep repeating the same violenc over and over etc and of course, why aliens avoid us

and so easy to fix! there's hope - it's not true human nature

[certainot]

9. the country is baked in 30 years of coordinated repetition from 1500 radio stations

reaching 50 mil a week.

most of the analysts are studying fish without the water. they NEVER poll for rw talk radio

[teach1st]

10. I THINK this is the research referred to

https://www.pnas.org/content/117/27/15536

[andym]

12. The interventions did help people get somewhat better at detection

Here are the interventions used (modified from Facebook):

“Tips to Spot False News”
Be skeptical of headlines. False news stories often have catchy headlines in all caps with exclamation points. If shocking claims in the headline sound unbelievable, they probably are.

Look closely at the URL. A phony or look-alike URL may be a warning sign of false news. Many false news sites mimic authentic news sources by making small changes to the URL. You can go to the site to compare the URL to established sources.

Investigate the source. Ensure that the story is written by a source that you trust with a reputation for accuracy. If the story comes from an unfamiliar organization, check their “About” section to learn more.

Watch for unusual formatting. Many false news sites have misspellings or awkward layouts. Read carefully if you see these signs.

Consider the photos. False news stories often contain manipulated images or videos. Sometimes the photo may be authentic, but taken out of context. You can search for the photo or image to verify where it came from.

Inspect the dates. False news stories may contain timelines that make no sense, or event dates that have been altered.

Check the evidence. Check the author’s sources to confirm that they are accurate. Lack of evidence or reliance on unnamed experts may indicate a false news story.

Look at other reports. If no other news source is reporting the same story, it may indicate that the story is false. If the story is reported by multiple sources you trust, it’s more likely to be true.

Is the story a joke? Sometimes false news stories can be hard to distinguish from humor or satire.

Check whether the source is known for parody, and whether the story’s details and tone suggest it may be just for fun.

Some stories are intentionally false. Think critically about the stories you read, and only share news that you know to be credible.
---------
Of course once you are brainwashed to believe Fox News is legitimate, these sadly won't help you.

[reACTIONary]

20. That's not it....

... here it is:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/dcjhq0ots2l4iml/Lyons%20et%20al%202020%20Overconfidence.pdf?dl=0

[teach1st]

24. Thanks!

[LeftInTX]

15. I'm more likely to believe fake news, if I'm busy or pre-occupied....

If I have time to think things through, I'm pretty good..

I'm an analytical person at heart. There is also too much "meme sharing" etc...Tidbits with sensation, but no substance.

I have a friend who likes to spread fake left wing news because she feels it "helps democracy"

Democrats are just as guilty as Republicans...
How does left wing fake news hurt Democrats? It can make us either "panic", get us "side tracked" or make us complacent...

Sometimes a bit of propaganda is good, but it one needs to realize what it is.
Example of good propaganda: "You better vote or else!"

[Elessar Zappa]

16. I don't think left wingers spread anywhere

near the amount of fake news that the Republicans do but it is a problem. We need courses in high school that teach civics and critical discernment of information.

[Aussie105]

17. When confronted with news, ask yourself some questions:

1. Do I like/agree with it, does it fit in with my world view?

2. Does it come from a source I'm comfortable with, have looked at before?

3. What is it telling me, directly or inferring?

4. How true is it? Can I verify it by going to other sources, ones that aren't just echo/copy/paste stuff?

Now, don't let 'How true is it?' be influenced by 1, 2 or 3 above.
Verify, look for facts and not just opinions or interpretations.

Radio play, 'War of the Worlds.'
Orson Welles had to apologize for scaring the listeners.

April 1, Spaghetti Harvest ruined!
Complete with people 'harvesting' spaghetti off climbing plants.
https://www.ststworld.com/spaghetti-tree-hoax/

Unfortunately, people are still that gullible. Spin doctors are more sophisticated these days.


EDIT: +1 all the stuff in post 12.

[robbob]

18. I love this PSA: the house hippo...

[reACTIONary]

21. Here is a link to the study. It contains....

... Examples of the false news headlines used.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/dcjhq0ots2l4iml/Lyons%20et%20al%202020%20Overconfidence.pdf?dl=0

[FakeNoose]

22. I used to have an infallible way to spot fake news

When scanning the headline and first few paragraphs carefully, I looked for misspelled words (typos), incorrect punctuation, bad/incorrect grammar, and spellchecker errors. My theory was that a professional writer would always check and correct those things, while a hack or fake news writer wouldn't have the knowledge (or care) to do so.

The telltale signs would regularly turn up to reveal the "fake news" stories, and the publisher of such a story was added onto my suspect list - don't trust anything these guys publish.

Problem is that NOBODY proofreads their own stories any more, not even the professional writers. There are no proofreaders on the staff of even the prestigious news outlets such as NYT, WaPo, CNN, WSJ, you name it. It seems most news story have errors these days and spellchecker sftware can only do so much.

I can no longer rely on my old standby to separate real from fake, and this is from a retired former proofreader and typesetter who is feeling rather useless these days.

[Spazito]

25. *LOCKING*

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