Paper Info
Title
An Empirical Approach To Understanding Users' Fake News Identification On Social Media
Abstract
Purpose During the past few years, the rise in social media use for information purposes in the absence of adequate control mechanisms has led to growing concerns about the reliability of the information in circulation and increased the presence of fake news. While this topic has recently gained researchers' attention, very little is known about users' fake news identification behavior. Hence, the purpose of this study is to understand the factors that contribute to individuals' identification of fake news on social media. Design/methodology/approach This study employs a quantitative approach and proposes a behavioral model that explores the factors influencing users' identification of fake news on social media. It relies on data collected from a sample of 211 social media users which is tested using SEM. Findings The findings show that expertise in social media use and verification behavior have a positive impact on fake news identification, while trust in social media as an information channel decreases this identification behavior. Furthermore, results establish the mediating role of social media information trust and verification behavior. Originality/value The present study enhances our understanding of social media users' fake news identification by presenting a behavioral model. It is one of the few that focuses on the individual and argues that by identifying the factors that reinforce users' fake news identification behavior on social media, this type of misinformation can be reduced. It offers several theoretical and practical contributions.
Year
DOI
Venue
2021
10.1108/OIR-08-2020-0333
ONLINE INFORMATION REVIEW
Keywords
DocType
Volume
Fake news, Trust, Social media, Information, Identification behavior
Journal
45
Issue
ISSN
Citations 
6
1468-4527
0
PageRank 
References 
Authors
0.34
0
3
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Karine Aoun Barakat100.34
Amal Dabbous200.34
Abbas Tarhini300.68