The Development of Social

Networking
 Social Capital Theory
• refers to the value that individuals or groups
gain from their social connections and
relationships
• encompasses the resources, trust, and
opportunities acquired through these
connections
 The Strength of Weak Ties
• Mark Granovetter
• suggests that weak ties or connections with
acquaintances and distant contacts can be
more valuable than strong ties
• weak ties often bridge different social
networks and provide diverse information and
opportunities
 Dunbar's Number
• Robin Dunbar, an anthropologist, proposed
that there is a cognitive limit to the number of
stable social relationships an individual can
maintain, estimated to be around 150
• Genuine social network
 Small world Phenomenon
• Stanley Milgram
• the chain of social acquaintances required to
connect one arbitrary person to another
arbitrary person anywhere in the world is
generally short
• Six degrees of separation
• Familiar stranger
 Homophily
• Homophily refers to the tendency of
individuals to connect with people who share
similar characteristics, interests, or beliefs
 The Filter Bubble
• popularized by Eli Pariser
• describes how personalized algorithms on
social media and other platforms create a
"bubble" around users by showing them
content that aligns with their existing
preferences and beliefs, potentially limiting
exposure to diverse viewpoints
 Networked Publics
• represent online spaces where people gather
to discuss, share, and engage in various social,
political, and cultural activities
 Social Network Analysis
• involves studying the relationships and
connections among individuals or entities to
identify patterns, structures, and the flow of
information within a network
• views social relationships in terms of nodes
and ties
Social Network Analysis
Fake News & Disinformation
 Fake News Disinformation
• refers to news stories or • the deliberate spread of
content that is false or misleading
intentionally fabricated, information with the intent
to manipulate public
misleading, or
opinion, sow confusion, or
inaccurate, often achieve a specific agenda
created to deceive • can involve fake news but
readers for various is a broader concept that
reasons, such as encompasses any
financial gain, political deceptive information
manipulation, or spread with harmful intent
sensationalism
 Intent
Fake News Disinformation
• primarily about creating • goes further by
misleading or fabricated encompassing a range
stories, often for of tactics used to
financial gain or deceive and manipulate
sensationalism for political, social, or
economic reasons
 Scope
Fake News Disinformation
• typically limited to false • can include a wide
news stories range of false or
misleading information,
including social media
posts, memes, altered
images, and more
 Impact
Fake News Disinformation
• may impact individuals • often has broader
but might not have the societal or political
same systemic effects impacts by influencing
public opinion,
elections, or social
discourse
 Agenda
Fake News Disinformation
• may be created for • often motivated by a
various reasons, specific agenda, such as
including generating influencing an election
website traffic or or promoting a
attracting attention particular ideology
KEY POINTS FOR DISCUSSION
Fake News & Disinformation (Key Points)

• Motivations Behind Fake News and

Disinformation
• Spread Mechanisms
• Confirmation Bias
• Critical Thinking and Fact-Checking
Fake News & Disinformation (Key Points)

• Fact-Checking Tools and Organizations

• Social Responsibility
• Media Literacy Education
MOTIVATIONS BEHIND FAKE NEWS
AND DISINFORMATION
 Motivations
• Financial Gain
– the sole purpose of generating web traffic and
advertising revenue (Fake news)
– the more sensational or shocking the story, the
more clicks it can attract
– often includes a political or social agenda as well
(disinformation)
 Sensationalism
• Sensationalism
– Fake news can be used to sensationalize events,
make them seem more dramatic or shocking than
they are
– This can help attract attention and increase the
visibility of a story
 Political Manipulation
• Political Manipulation
– In some cases, fake news is created to influence
political events, such as elections or referendums.
It can spread false information about candidates
or issues to sway public opinion.
 Social Division
• Social Division
– Disinformation can exploit societal divisions by
spreading false narratives that deepen existing
conflicts or create new ones
 Trolling and Mischief
• Some individuals or groups engage in
disinformation campaigns for the sake of
causing chaos, confusion, or amusement
Fake News and Disinformation

SPREAD MECHANISMS
 Spread Mechanisms
Social Media Sharing Virality and Clickbait
• Users share fake news or • Sensational or emotionally
disinformation on social charged content is more
media platforms like likely to go viral, as users
Facebook, Twitter, and share it for its shock value
Instagram or to elicit reactions
 Spread Mechanisms
Bots and Automation Echo Chambers and Filter Bubbles
• Automated accounts or bots • People are more likely to
are programmed to share engage with and share
and amplify fake news or content that aligns with
disinformation, giving the their existing beliefs,
appearance of widespread creating echo chambers
support where fake news can thrive
 Spread Mechanisms
Manipulative Content Creation Trolling and Mischief
• Creators use manipulative • Some individuals or groups
techniques like deepfakes intentionally create fake
(AI-altered videos) or news or disinformation to
photoshopped images to cause chaos or confusion,
deceive users often for amusement
 Spread Mechanisms
Amplification by Mainstream Media
• Fake news that gains
traction on social media
may be picked up and
amplified by mainstream
media, unintentionally
legitimizing it
Closed Messaging Apps
• Disinformation can also
spread in closed messaging
apps like WhatsApp or
Telegram, making it
challenging to monitor
 Spread Mechanisms
Exploiting Emotional Triggers
• Content that taps into
strong emotions, such as
fear, anger, or sympathy, is
more likely to be shared
Lack of Media Literacy
• Users with low media
literacy skills may be more
susceptible to sharing fake
news and disinformation
Fake News and Disinformation

CONFIRMATION BIAS
 Confirmation Bias
Selective Information Seeking
• People with confirmation
bias actively seek out
information or news
sources that align with their
existing beliefs or opinions
Interpretation of Ambiguous
Information
• Confirmation bias
influences how individuals
interpret ambiguous or
uncertain information. They
tend to interpret it in a way
that confirms their existing
views
 Confirmation Bias
Filtering Out Contradictory Information Reinforcing Echo Chambers
• People often unconsciously • Confirmation bias leads
filter out or downplay individuals to engage with
information that contradicts like-minded people and
their beliefs, making it less communities, creating echo
likely for them to consider chambers where their
alternative viewpoints beliefs are continually
reinforced
 Confirmation Bias
Emotional Attachment to Beliefs Perseverance of Belief
• Strong emotional • Even when presented with
attachment to certain clear evidence that
beliefs can intensify contradicts their beliefs,
confirmation bias, as people people may persist in
are more likely to seek out holding those beliefs due to
and share information that confirmation bias
makes them feel validated
Fake News and Disinformation

CRITICAL THINKING AND FACT-

CHECKING
 Critical Thinking
• involves the objective evaluation of
information, ideas, or arguments
• helps individuals assess the credibility and
reliability of the information they encounter.
 Critical Thinking
Questioning Sources and Bias Evaluating Evidence
• Critical thinkers question • Critical thinkers assess the
the sources of information evidence presented in
and recognize potential support of a claim. They
biases. They consider who is look for verifiable facts and
providing the information data.
and whether there's an
agenda.
 Critical Thinking
Identifying Logical Fallacies Weighing Multiple Perspectives
• Critical thinkers recognize • Critical thinkers consider
common logical fallacies in different viewpoints and
arguments, such as ad arguments, even those that
hominem attacks, strawman challenge their pre-existing
arguments, and false beliefs.
dichotomies.
 Fact-checking
• involves verifying the accuracy of claims and
information
• use reliable sources to confirm or refute
statements, helping to distinguish between
truth and falsehood
 Fact-checking
Cross-Referencing Multiple Sources
• Fact-checkers corroborate
information by consulting
multiple reputable sources
to ensure its accuracy
Evaluating Primary Sources
• Fact-checkers seek original,
primary sources to verify
information. This ensures
the information's reliability
 Fact-checking
Verifying Visual and Multimedia
Content Correcting and Sharing
• Fact-checkers use tools and • Fact-checkers responsibly
techniques to assess the share their findings and
authenticity of images, corrections, promoting
videos, and audio accurate information in the
recordings public sphere
FACT-CHECKING TOOLS AND
ORGANIZATIONS
 Fact-Checking Tools and Organization
• providing reliable, independent assessments
of the accuracy of information
 Fact-Checking Tools
Google Fact-Check Explorer
• a search tool that allows
users to search for fact-
checking articles related to
a specific claim or topic
Fact-Checking Tools
InVID (InVID Verification Plugin)
• a browser extension that
assists in verifying the
authenticity of images and
videos by providing reverse
image search, metadata
analysis, and contextual
information
 Fact-Checking Tools
CrowdTangle
• a social media monitoring
and analytics tool that can
help users track the spread
of content across various
social platforms, allowing
for the identification of
trending stories and
potentially false information
Fact-Checking Organizations
Snopes
• Snopes is one of the oldest
and most well-known fact-
checking websites that
investigates a wide range of
claims, from urban legends
to political statements
 Fact-Checking Organizations
PolitiFact
• focuses on fact-checking
political statements, claims,
and campaign promises,
providing a "Truth-O-Meter"
rating for each statement
Fact-Checking Organizations
FactCheck.org
• nonpartisan organization
that fact-checks political
claims and statements
made by politicians and
public figures.
 Fact-Checking Organizations
The Washington Post Fact Checker
• focuses on political claims,
assigning "Pinocchios" to
statements based on their
level of falsehood
Fact-Checking Organizations
International Fact-Checking Network
(IFCN)
• a network of fact-checking
organizations from around
the world, promoting best
practices and standards in
fact-checking
MEDIA LITERACY
 Media Literacy
Identifying Reliable Sources Evaluating Bias and Objectivity
• helps students recognize • teaches students to analyze
trustworthy news sources and identify bias in news
from unreliable ones. It reporting. They understand
teaches them to look for that even reputable sources
journalistic standards and may have subtle biases.
credibility indicators.
 Media Literacy
Fact-Checking and Verification Understanding the Editorial Process
• emphasizes the importance • how stories are researched,
of verifying information written, edited, and fact-
before accepting it as true. checked. This knowledge
Students learn fact-checking helps them understand the
techniques. value of reputable news
outlets.
 Media Literacy
Analyzing Media Literacy in
Advertisements Navigating the Digital Age:
• help students recognize • addresses digital and social
persuasive techniques and media, teaching students
potential manipulation in how to assess the credibility
advertisements. of online content.
 Media Literacy
Recognizing the Impact of
Encouraging Critical Thinking Misinformation
• fosters critical thinking by • highlights the societal
teaching students to ask impact of misinformation
questions, consider multiple and disinformation.
viewpoints, and avoid Students learn about the
accepting information at potential consequences of
face value. false information.
 Media Literacy
Promoting Media Literacy in the
Ethical Use of Media Community
• Media literacy teaches • Students are encouraged to
students to use media share their media literacy
ethically, including knowledge with their
respecting copyright, citing communities, helping
sources, and avoiding others become more
plagiarism. discerning media
consumers