How is Disinformation Spread on Social Media?

Disinformation is now a critical issue on and off social media. Usually defined as "the production and dissemination of false and/or intentionally tampered with information intended to mislead the public, either to cause harm or to achieve political, personal or financial gain", political disinformation is considered a significant threat to democracy.

Since misinformation is initially spread online by its creators, it spread through the individual actions of social media users, among other things. Ordinary people can share material by consciously sharing it on their own social networks. There are many websites like ninaschick to consult an advisor.

Basically, when people share or interact with misinformation they see online, they have been spoken to by the creator. Influential social information processing models suggest that there are different types of trust. Three heuristics that are potentially important in this context are consistency, consensus, and authority.

Consistency: This is the extent to which the sharing will be consistent with one's previous behavior or beliefs.

Consensus: This is the degree to which people believe that their behavior is compatible with most others. In today's context, it's possible to see a message that is already widely circulated increase the willingness to pass it on to one another. In marketing, this influence tactic is known as "social proof." It is widely used in online commerce to encourage consumers to buy goods or services

Authority: This is the degree to which communication appears to come from a reliable and trustworthy source.

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