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Fake Election News Stories Outperformed Real News On Facebook

Kate Ray edited this page Mar 27, 2017 · 3 revisions

Title: Hyperpartisan Facebook Pages Are Publishing False And Misleading Information At An Alarming Rate

Publication Date: October 20, 2016

Authors: Craig Silverman, Lauren Strapagiel, Hamza Shaban, Ellie Hall, Jeremy Singer-Vine

Links: Buzzfeed story

  • the top-performing fake election news stories outperformed major news media outlets, with 8,711,000 shares/reactions/comments vs 7,367,000 about content from 19 major news websites.

  • Up until the last 3 months of the campaign, posts by major outlets were far ahead. Then engagement with the fake content skyrocketed until it surpassed the real content.

  • Of the top 20 false election stories, 17 were pro-Trump/anti-Hillary.