Library:Fake News Game Confers Psychological Resistance Against Online Misinformation
| Fake News Game Confers Psychological Resistance Against Online Misinformation | |
|---|---|
| Author | Jon Roozenbeek and Sander van der Linden |
| First published | 2019 |
| ISBN | — |
| Role | Analysis |
| Domains | Technology & Media Culture, Religion & Society |
| Tactics | Propaganda Technique Manipulation |
Fake News Game Confers Psychological Resistance Against Online Misinformation is a 2019 study by Jon Roozenbeek and Sander van der Linden. It appeared in Palgrave Communications 5 (2019).
Summary
Researchers at the University of Cambridge evaluated Bad News, an online game in which players take the role of a fake news producer and learn common manipulation techniques such as impersonation, emotional language, polarization and conspiracy theories.
Findings
Among thousands of people who played the game, ratings of the reliability of fake headlines fell after playing, while ratings of real headlines changed little. The authors described this as psychological "inoculation" or prebunking: exposure to a weakened form of manipulation builds resistance to it.
Relevance to Bullshitopedia
Evidence that teaching the techniques of propaganda, as Bullshitopedia's taxonomy does, can help people resist it.