Synthesis of research on the reasons for the publication and trend towards fake news in social media

Document Type : researcher

Authors
setayesh alzahra ebrahimi 1
mohammad soltanifar 2
ali jafari 3
1 PhD student in Communication Sciences, Science and Research Unit, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
2 Associate Professor, Department of Communication Sciences, Science and Research Unit, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
3 Assistant Professor, Institute for Educational Studies, Organization for Educational Research and Planning (OERP), Tehran, Iran.
10.22034/scm.2024.186030
Abstract
This research was conducted with the aim of synthesizing foreign research conducted in the period of 2020 to 2023 regarding fake news. The sample size was determined based on theoretical sampling, 14 articles and according to information saturation. To analyze the data according to the main problem of the research, thematic coding method was used, which was presented in three stages: "open coding", "descriptive categories" and "analytical themes". The research results from the research synthesis have led to the identification of three main themes of "online environmental factors", "personal-social motivations of the user" and "fake news content" among the most important reasons for the tendency and dissemination of fake news in social media. The most important factor and driver of the fake news cycle can be attributed to the fields of publishing, i.e. robots and artificial intelligence. Bots help spread fake news and increase the apparent popularity of fake news on social media. Although bots still exist, more often than not, the spread of fake news is the result of real people, usually acting innocent. This leads us to the other main category, the human motivations of the user to tend and accept fake news. Social networks change other readers' perception of the quality of a message by highlighting the like index of a post, the usefulness of one's opinion. And changes his mind about the subject of the message itself. Research synthesis also shows that people share fake news more than real news for various reasons.

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Society Culture Media
Volume 13, Issue 50
Spring 2024
Pages 169-188

  • Receive Date 10 October 2023
  • Revise Date 19 December 2023
  • Accept Date 20 December 2023