Researchers Created Fake News. Here’s What They Found.

Before the term “fake news” became an all-purpose insult for news coverage a person doesn’t like, it had a more specific meaning: stories invented from whole cloth, designed to attract social shares and web traffic by flattering the prejudices of their intended audience. Think of untrue claims like the Donald Trump endorsement by Pope Francis or the investigation of the Clinton Foundation for running a pedophile sex ring. In the immediate aftermath of the election, there was even some speculation that these types of stories were enough to swing the result toward Donald J Trump.

Some new research from two economists throws at least a bit of cold water on the theory that false news was a major influence on the election result. They offer some hard data on how pervasive voters’ consumption of fake news really was during the 2016 election cycle. The research also reveals some disturbing truths about the modern media environment and how people make sense of the incoming gush of news.