The Curative Effect of Social Media on Fake News: A Historical Re-evaluation

ABSTRACT

Rhetoric surrounding the fake news crisis suggests social media is a primary contributor, allowing a greater variety of channels through which information, presented as news, can be published for financial or ideological gain. However, the problem of fake or false news, now included in the broader term disinformation, has a much longer history than the digital era and was previously extensively published in mainstream media. This article takes an historical approach in order to contextualise the current plethora of disinformation through an indicative comparison of the spread and reach of two infamous fake news stories, a century apart. The results of this comparison indicate that the relative population reach of fake news is now less than in the pre-digital news media era and that digital media fragmentation and immediacy allow the identification and correction of fake news faster than in any other period in history. However, while such conditions offer a curative effect, they do not suggest a cure-all with the historical record further revealing an enduring legacy of information disruption that transcends preventative and corrective action.

KEYWORDS:

• Fake news
• disinformation
• history of fake news
• journalism history
• social media

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. The Ayers & Sons Directory is published the following year. Therefore 1917 figures are in the 1918 edition and so on.