Social media platforms have become a major platform for propagating conspiracy theories, fake news and hoaxes in recent years.
A researcher from the Open University of Catalonia (UOC), who worked with 19 other universities, examined the role that social media plays in the dissemination of false information, and the relationship between how these platforms are used and their users’ belief in this type of misinformation.
“The particular operating features and characteristics of Twitter, a social network that is more focused on news consumption, increase the social pressure on what is published on it, which could in turn perhaps reduce the circulation of unverified or alternative information compared to other social media, such as Facebook and YouTube, which have characteristics that favour the dissemination of those theories,” explained one of the lead authors of the study, Ana Sofía Cardenal.
Data obtained from surveys in 17 European countries was analysed...