Library:Less Than You Think
| Less Than You Think | |
|---|---|
| Author | Andrew Guess, Jonathan Nagler and Joshua Tucker |
| First published | 2019 |
| ISBN | — |
| Role | Analysis |
| Domains | Technology & Media Politics & Elections |
| Tactics | Fabrication |
Less Than You Think is a 2019 study by Andrew Guess, Jonathan Nagler and Joshua Tucker. It appeared in Science Advances 5, no. 1 (2019).
Summary
Political scientists linked a survey of Americans to the respondents' actual Facebook sharing during the 2016 election campaign, with their consent.
Findings
Sharing articles from fake news domains was rare: fewer than one in ten respondents shared any. The strongest predictor was age: users over 65 shared nearly seven times as many fake news articles as the youngest group, even after accounting for ideology and other factors. Conservatives shared more such articles than liberals, which the authors linked partly to the pro-Trump slant of fake news sites at the time.
Relevance to Bullshitopedia
A useful corrective to claims that everyone shares fake news, and a pointer to where media literacy efforts may matter most.
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