Social Media Information Cascade and Fake News
Earlier in the semester, we learned about the degrees of separation. Although it is commonly believed that the number of connections required to get from one person to any one else in the world was six. However, over 90% of Facebook users were connected by just give hops. According to this article, the average number of hops has actually decreased from 5.8 in 2008 to just 4.7 today.
Does this mean we are more connected than we used to be? What are the consequences of the decreasing distance between individuals? With the increasing number of Facebook users and the shrinking distance between them, a trend bound to emerge is that the speed at which information can spread increases. The author, Matthew Ingram, states “status updates and group memberships and photos and videos [Sociologist Zeynep Tufekci says] can create an “information cascade” that overcomes the typical information vacuum people often experience in such situations.”
The article discusses the consequences of the information cascade. With shortened distances between people, news spreads faster and can easily influence the world. Sociologist Zeynep Tufecki studied the use of Facebook and said information cascades influenced the Arab Spring uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.
In sight of the recent US Presidential elections, many say that “Fake News” circulating the internet cost Hilary Clinton the election. “Fake news” refers to false news articles circulating social media, and because of the fast paced information cascade, quickly reaching one individual to the next. These fake news articles are essentially rumors that have not been fact-checked, but their existence, even as lies, influenced the outcome of the election according to this article.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/18/technology/fake-news-on-facebook-in-foreign-elections-thats-not-new.html
http://gigaom.com/2011/11/22/six-degrees-what-does-it-mean-to-be-facebook-friends/
https://gigaom.com/2011/11/02/social-media-tipping-points-and-revolutions/