Social, Behavioral & Experimental Economics (SBEE): Who Reads Fake News? Evidence from the 2016 and 2018 campaigns
Brendan Nyhan, University of Michigan
Abstract:
Though some warnings about online "echo chambers" have been hyperbolic, tendencies toward selective exposure to politically congenial content are likely to extend to misinformation and to be exacerbated by social media platforms. We test this prediction using data on the factually dubious articles known as "fake news." Using unique data combining survey responses with individual-level web traffic histories, we evaluate consumption of fake news during the 2016 and 2018 elections, the role of Facebook in exposing people to fake news, and the effectiveness of fact-checks in countering it.
Though some warnings about online "echo chambers" have been hyperbolic, tendencies toward selective exposure to politically congenial content are likely to extend to misinformation and to be exacerbated by social media platforms. We test this prediction using data on the factually dubious articles known as "fake news." Using unique data combining survey responses with individual-level web traffic histories, we evaluate consumption of fake news during the 2016 and 2018 elections, the role of Facebook in exposing people to fake news, and the effectiveness of fact-checks in countering it.
| Building: | North Quad |
|---|---|
| Event Type: | Workshop / Seminar |
| Tags: | Economics, seminar |
| Source: | Happening @ Michigan from Social, Behavioral, and Experimental Economics (SBEE), Department of Economics, Department of Economics Seminars |
