RIEB Discussion Paper Series No.2023-20

Title

Which Type of Misinformation Is the Hardest to Detect? Gender and Age-Group Differences in Fake News Consumption on Social Media

Abstract

Fake news represents a global challenge and have adverse effects on society. Detecting misinformation, particularly on social media, poses a significant challenge. However, research does not distinguish between the different types of misinformation and groups it into one broad category "fake news". To address the existing gap in the literature, this study conducted an online survey involving a representative sample of the U.S. population regarding the various forms of misinformation – fabricated content, manipulated content, imposter content, misleading content, false context, satire or parody, false connections, sponsored content, and propaganda. The findings indicate that satire or parody are the most easily discernible forms of misinformation, whereas people encounter the greatest challenge in identifying false contexts. Furthermore, disparities among adult age groups were observed in the ability to discern imposter content and sponsored content. Finally, differences in terms of gender and age-groups with regards to misinformation consumption on social media are discussed.

Keywords

Fake news; Misinformation; Social media; Detection; Age; Gender

Inquiries

Vera Paola SHODA
Research Institute for Economics and Business Administration (RIEB)
Center for Computational Social Science (CCSS)
Kobe University
Rokkodai-cho, Nada-ku, Kobe
657-8501 Japan
Phone: +81-78-803-7036
FAX: +81-78-803-7059