Thanks, Donald Trump. Because of you ‘fake news’ has become Collins Dictionary’s word of the year in 2017 (Hunt, 2017). Although not a new phenomenon, fake news has become a part of everyday life stemming from social media’s influence within Brexit and the recent US General Election (Dice, 2017). Below is an infographic created through Canva examining the public response to fake news:
Source: Infographic created through Canva.
The history of Fake News
The short history of fake news begins in a small town in Macedonia called Veles (Kirby, 2017). Within the town, 140 ‘fake’ stories centred around the US election were spread, inciting Facebook to start examining its algorithm and the factuality of online content. Lies, deceit, and spinning the truth is not new to politics or life. However, the use of social media and search engine advertising to do so is something that has only emerged in recent memory (Wending, 2018). Arredondo (2014) documents the way in which totalitarian governments are using the web as a populist tool to disperse political-based agenda in order to develop a relationship between the ‘party’ and the ‘people’ – even if the content is vastly inaccurate.
How to spot Fake News
Fake news is all around us. Below is an infographic video that I made through PowToon that can help advise you on how to detect if something online can be deemed fake:
https://www.powtoon.com/embed/fIjgEltaDk9/
Video created through PowToon.
Furthermore, you can use the three parts of this infographic to help you to decide whether the content you are viewing online is legitimate:
Infographic sourced from Sewanee (2018).
Conclusion
Although misleading and inaccurate political content has been around for centuries, the digital kind we face now is more pervasive in nature than that we have faced in the past. Following the steps within this blog is a starting point for ascertaining a critical eye for fake news. In the future, according to Thomas and Jolls (2005), media literacy must become an intrinsic part of IT studies’ syllabus to help counter the emergence of fake news.
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References
Arredondo, I. (2014). What is Web-populism doing to Italian Politics? The Discursive Construction of ‘Grillini’ vis-à-vis the Antagonist Other. Media@LSE. [online] Available at: http://www.lse.ac.uk/media-and-communications/assets/documents/research/msc-dissertations/2013/115-Arredondo.pdf [Accessed 10 Mar. 2018].
Dice, M. (2017). The True Story of Fake News: How Mainstream Media Manipulates Millions. Routledge.
Hunt, J. (2017). Fake news is officially 2017’s word of the year. [online] The Independent. Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/fake-news-word-of-the-year-2017-collins-dictionary-donald-trump-kellyanne-conway-antifa-corbynmania-a8032751.html [Accessed 10 Mar. 2018].
Kirby, J. (2017). The city getting rich from fake news. [online] BBC News. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-38168281 [Accessed 10 Mar. 2018].
Thomas, J. and Jolls, L. (2017). Media literacy – Wikiversity. [online] En.wikiversity.org. Available at: https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Media_literacy [Accessed 10 Mar. 2018].
Wendling, M. (2018). The (almost) complete history of ‘fake news’. [online] BBC News. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-42724320 [Accessed 10 Mar. 2018].
Dominic's Blog 
Hi Dom,
I’m honestly so shocked that ‘fake news’ made it into the dictionary – what a world we now live in, hey!
I know that you say that ‘fake news’ is not a recent phenomenon, and this is definitely something I would agree with having done the research for my own blog post this week, but do you think that it has gotten worse in recent years or that we are just now more aware it? In psychology, there is a theory called the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, that says that once we are made aware of something we begin to see it everywhere. This article summarises the theory well:
https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/baader-meinhof-phenomenon.htm
I’m wondering whether you would agree that since Donald Trump has started to repeatedly shout about ‘fake news’ we are more aware of it in our surroundings or whether you think it is more attributed to the rise of social media and the ease of creating our own (sometimes misinformed) content online?
I look forward to reading your reply!
Joanna
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Hi Joanna,
Firstly, thanks for taking the time to comment on my post, it is much appreciated!
Thanks for sharing the article on the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, I have studied some psychology modules over the last few semesters but have never come across it – it is a really interesting way at viewing the fake news motion though.
In all honesty, I think it is a mixture of Trump shouting about it and the prevalence and rise of social media. Social media has ultimately only been ingrained in our everyday lives over the last few years but has acted as a catalyst for spreading ‘fake news’ online.
I am intrigued to hear your perspective – is it down to Trump or the rise of social media?
I look forward to hearing your reply.
Dom
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Hi Dom,
Thanks for getting back to me! I would agree with you that it’s definitely a mixture of the two. Social media has made fake news so much more prevalent in our every day lives. I’ll often see ‘news’ stories about ‘this’ celebrity dying or ‘that’ member of parliament doing something scandalous. I do sort of wonder however whether Trump has done us a favour (miracles do happen!) because I know I definitely check the source of what I’m reading now more than ever before!
I look forward to reading your future blog posts!
Joanna
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