Credit: CC0 Public Domain
A trio of researchers with Columbia University has conducted a series of experiments regarding how much effort people are willing to exert in fact-checking news stories. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Youjung Jun, Rachel Meng and Gita Venkataramani Johar describe the experiments they carried out and what they found as a result.
Phys.org: Study suggests people less likely to fact check news when in company of other people
As we have painfully learned, there's not much people are willing to do to validate news stories but there's a compounding factor.
The topic of fake news has been in the news a lot of late partially due to its possible impact on the last U.S. presidential election—since that time, public figures such as Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, have vowed to cut down or eliminate fake news from social media. Fake news persists because it is used as click bait; unfortunately, it can have unintended consequences, such as people believing the information they find in such articles—this may be more likely to occur, the authors of this new research have found, if the reader is with other people.
- PO
There you have the straight-up charge against social networks, Facebook in particular, since there's never a time on a social network in which someone can't see what you're doing, your online friends if no-one else. There's also almost no fact-checking on social networks so the researchers have come up with the basis for it but why should it ever happen.
The researchers report that across all eight experiments, they found the volunteers were less likely to do fact checking when they were in the presence of other people—even if it was indirect, such as on social media. The experiments did not reveal why the people acted as they did, but the researchers suggest it was likely due to one of three things: something they call social loafing, which means the exertion of less effort on a task in the presence of other people; people unwilling to go against social norms; or because of muted responses due to crowd vigilance.
- PO
We don't get a why but a confirmation of the fact of the lack of inquiry. There was more explanation in an earlier article regarding conformity in which fear of retribution for failing to conform is a significant component. (Ithaka: The Difficulty in Rejecting Conformity - Science)
Ostracism has been the typical punishment in my life and it's happening now but it's hardly a threat when I'm ostracized by people without the discernment to differentiate that which is real from that which is not. However, ostracism is a terror to many and use of that as a weapon is typically an effective tool.
Shunning is another form of it and that method is essentially a different word for the same thing but it has been used for centuries to enforce tight conformity within small religious communities. The technique definitely works with some subset of people.
Ed: Facebook has become a world of stealth Mennonites?
Functionally speaking, yes
Maybe it's even the CIA FUD Masters who create the stupid memes which say Donald Trump is confirmed to have at least one Gila Monster in his lineage. Stooges like Zuckerberg point at that and say, "See, I spotted the fake news."
Same old misdirection and the idiotic dog and pony show in Congress isn't contested at all.
Note: if Zuckerberg isn't sucking up for political office as hard as Chelsea Clinton, why did he start kissing babies and wearing a suit after throwing out the basic college prep look he kept way past when anyone else usually grasps the fact they're not in college anymore.
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