Why are we all susceptible to fake news? Is it herd mentality? Confidence in numbers? Pure naivete? Have we always let our opinions shape the way we perceive certain information, including disinformation and misinformation?

 

     Misinformation and disinformation has always been a prevalent issue, now more than ever in the digital age as social media is available to every person at the touch of a button. As information is readily available in every corner of the internet, there’s an alarming amount of false information rapidly propagating on the most popular social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook as anyone in the world can be a source of news. Now, the real question is “why do so many people believe these lies”?

 

     As said by Ms. Tania Lombronzo in her opinion piece about the psychology of fake news, “We know that the primary determinant of whether people believe a message is whether or not they agree with it.” This can be due to a multitude of factors, such as cognitive and confirmation biases, the reader’s own personal biases and experiences, and the intention of the author or the sharer of information, whether or not this information is truly factual. Using one's own judgment to determine whether or not information is true is the most typical method used by the masses. People frequently overestimate how sure they are in their abilities to recognize untruths and, in combination with that, we are a lot less likely to truly pay attention to media that does not conform to our morality and our opinion of what is right due to confirmation bias. A widespread illusion labeled as the "third-person effect" is essentially when people believe that they are less prone than others to be affected by media messages when, in reality, we are all equally susceptible to the consumption of fake news due to it conforming to what we believe is right and just.

 

     The issue now is the fact that these opinions nearly completely hinder us from truly understanding factual information presented to us, due to our lack of a capability to take the information at its core if it dissents or favors our personal opinions. There are also other factors that play with our biases as consumers of information that further influences our subjective consumption of news, such as repetition of a false claim, pluralistic ignorance, cognitive dissonance, popularity of a claim and the herd mentality that follows, etc. 

 

     Sir Tommy Shane, in an article about the psychology of misinformation, says that “The psychological feature that makes us most vulnerable to misinformation is that we are ‘cognitive misers. We prefer to use simpler, easier ways of solving problems than ones requiring more thought and effort. We’ve evolved to use as little mental effort as possible.” This statement helps put into perspective why social media is such a breeding ground for misinformation, as it makes use of clickbait titles and articles to garner an intense reaction from the public, as to arouse misinformed heated discussions and strong opinions with a lack of clear standing or evidence.

 

     Understanding the psychological reasoning behind our susceptibility to misinformation and disinformation will impel us to think twice about everything we read and hear, and to constantly employ critical thinking when met with information that isn’t backed up by any obvious credible evidence.