Fake News Is Sowing Confusion

In the week of the 2016 U.S. election, everyone has raised concerns about fake news and the potential impact on both political life and innocent individuals. According to the research by Michael Barthel, Amy Mitchell and Jesse Holcomb, fake news has already become a prevalent issue.

Based on a new survey by Pew Research Center, most Americans suspect that made-up news is having an impact. About two-in-three U.S. adults (64%) say fabricated news stories cause a great deal of confusion about the basic facts of current issues and events. This sense is shared widely across incomes, education levels, partisan affiliations and most other demographic characteristics. These results come from a survey of 1,002 U.S. adults conducted from Dec. 1 to 4, 2016.

Nearly one-in-three U.S. adults (32%) say they often see fake political news online, while 39% sometimes see such stories and 26% hardly ever or never do.
Americans show some discernment between almost completely made up political news stories and those that are partially inaccurate. About half (51%) of U.S. adults say they often see political news online that is at least somewhat inaccurate – a higher proportion than those who say they see news that is almost completely made up.

Some Americans say they have contributed directly to the distribution of fake news by sharing it themselves. About a quarter (23%) say they have ever shared such stories, while roughly equal portions say they have shared made-up news knowingly and unknowingly.
Fully 16% of U.S. adults say they have shared fake political news inadvertently, only discovering later that it was entirely made up. This is more prevalent among those who say they often see such fake political news stories (22%) than among those who say they see fake news less often (13%), though no consistent demographic differences emerge.
A similar percentage, 14%, say they have shared fake news they knew was made-up – whether because they want to spread misinformation, to “call out” the stories as fake, for the amusement value, or for some other reason.

According to the survey,about six-in-ten men say completely made-up news causes a great deal of confusion (61%), and a little higher portion of women say the same (68%).

The proportion of completely made-up news causes a great deal of confusion for people aged 18-29 ranked top across the age group,while a gradual decline from 67% to 58% could be noticed with age increase , though the change is not significant.

Also, there is some differences among different income groups. While a majority of those who make less than $30,000 a year say fake news causes a great deal of confusion(58%), this is a lower proportion than among those who make between $30,000 and $75,000 (65%) and those who make $75,000 or more(73%).