Fake News and Third Person Effect

Digilab’s members presented in Valencia the paper Third person effect and fake news in Spain at the IAMCR Pre-conference “Disinformation and political processes: media strategies and audience attitudes“

Based on an explanatory sequential approach (focus groups and survey), results confirm existence of the third-person effect relating to fake news. People tend to perceive that fake news have a greater effect on others than on themselves, based on personal biases. As a consequence, only few respondents verify potential false content get it on WhatsApp, which is easily shared with the intent to inform connections. Results also allow determining a four-type classification of users depending of their relationship with fake news.

Reference:

Almenar, Ester;  Aran, Sue; Capilla, Pablo; Masip, Pere; Puertas, David, Ruiz, Carlos; Suau, Jaume; and Zilles, Klaus. “Third person effect and fake news in Spain” paper presented at the IAMCR Pre-conference “Disinformation and political processes: media strategies and audience attitudes, Valencia July 5, 2019