Fake News on Facebook and Twitter: Investigating How People (Don't) Investigate

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DOI

With misinformation proliferating online and more people getting news from social media, it is crucial to understand how people assess and interact with low-credibility posts. This study explores how users react to fake news posts on their Facebook or Twitter feeds, as if posted by someone they follow. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 25 participants who use social media regularly for news, temporarily caused fake news to appear in their feeds with a browser extension unbeknownst to them, and observed as they walked us through their feeds. We found various reasons why people do not investigate low-credibility posts, including taking trusted posters' content at face value, as well as not wanting to spend the extra time. We also document people's investigative methods for determining credibility using both platform affordances and their own ad-hoc strategies. Based on our findings, we present design recommendations for supporting users when investigating low-credibility posts.