Exploring fake news awareness and trust in the age of social media among university student TikTok users

Figures & data

Table 1. Profile of participants.

No	Name code	Gender	Age	Major	University	Frequency of using TikTok
1	S1	Male	19	Computer science	Swinburne University	Regularly
2	S2	Female	20	International business	Swinburne University	Very frequently
3	S3	Female	20	International business	Swinburne University	Occasionally
4	S4	Male	19	Marketing	Swinburne University	Regularly
5	S5	Female	19	Marketing	Swinburne University	Very frequently
6	S6	Male	22	Marketing	Swinburne University	Regularly
7	S7	Female	22	International business	Swinburne University	Regularly
8	S8	Female	22	Public relation	FPT University	Very frequently
9	S9	Female	22	Public relation	FPT University	Very frequently
10	S10	Female	21	Public relation	FPT University	Very frequently
11	S11	Male	21	Computer science	FPT University	Regularly
12	S12	Female	21	International business	FPT University	Very frequently
13	S13	Female	20	Marketing	FPT University	Very frequently
14	S14	Male	19	Computer science	FPT University	Regularly
15	S15	Male	22	Graphic design	FPT University	Regularly
16	S16	Female	22	International business	FPT University	Occasionally
17	S17	Female	21	International business	FPT University	Regularly
18	S18	Male	20	Computer science	University of Greenwich	Occasionally
19	S19	Male	20	Business management	University of Greenwich	Very frequently
20	S20	Male	20	Business management	University of Greenwich	Rarely
21	S21	Female	20	Marketing	University of Greenwich	Occasionally
22	S22	Female	20	Marketing	University of Greenwich	Regularly
23	S23	Female	21	Public relations & communications	University of Greenwich	Occasionally
24	S24	Female	21	Public relations & communications	University of Greenwich	Sometimes
25	S25	Female	20	Marketing	University of Greenwich	Occasionally
26	S26	Female	20	Marketing	University of Greenwich	Very frequently

Table 2. Themes, sub-themes and categories regarding University students’ awareness of fake news.

Themes	Sub-themes	Categories	No. of observations	Examples
Level of fake news awareness	Social media use	Frequency of using TikTok	19	“I find myself scrolling through it multiple times a day, in the early morning when I just wake up. The more I use it, the more I counter unreliable information from different videos”
		Familiarity with online platform	22	“I spend more time on TikTok than I do on traditional news websites or TV channels and there is a misinformation Minefield there”
	Encountering Fake News	Recognition of misleading content sources	23	“There’s misinformation about product reviews on TikTok. Some creators exaggerate the benefits to get more views, and it can be misleading for viewers." "I’ve noticed various types of misinformation on TikTok, ranging from health-related myths to political rumors. It’s important to be discerning about what you see."
		Popular topics or themes for fake news content	16	"I’ve noticed that fake news is quite common on TikTok, especially on certain trending hashtags where people share unverified information” "There was a video suggesting a well-known singer was retiring, and it spread like wildfire. Turns out, it was just a misinterpretation of a tweet taken out of context."
	Media literacy education	Lack of official training on Media literacy	22	“I think media literacy should be a part of our education, just like math or science. It’s that important in today’s world” “As students, we’re online a lot, and it’s easy to get misled. Unfortunately, there has been no workshop/training to help us grow media literacy mindset from our university”
		Reliance on experience & emotion	17	“If I look at the speakers on the video and he seems to be unfriendly, dishonest, I won’t believe in what he says” “I saw a lot of fake news about celebrity lifestyle, I will just ignore those content because I think they are biased”
		Simplified information verification	17	“It takes so long to verify information on social media. If I need to check its accuracy, I will simply ask my friends about it or look through official online websites for more information”

Table 3. Themes, sub-themes and categories regarding University students’ trust in media.

Themes	Sub-themes	Categories	No. of observations	Examples
Media trust	Entertainment purpose	“Fun”	24	“There is a diverse range of content, from funny skits and dance challenges on TikTok. I see a lot of TikTokers who are around my age, dance with their pets, share their love tips and humorous situations”
		Social network	16	“I primarily use TikTok for social networking and connecting with friends and see the latest trend, rather than using it as a source for reading news or accessing information”
	Higher trust toward traditional news channels	“Never know the truth”	15	“Anyone can create and share content on TikTok, including information that may be inaccurate or misleading. At the end of the day, they are subjective views. You will never know if it’s true or not”
		Contextual trust on TikTok	13	"For things like politics or commercial stuff, I’m more skeptical. But if it’s about real-life experiences or crime stories, I tend to trust it more" “I think the news on VTV1, VTV2 or other governmental agency is more reliable because they are already verified”

Table 4. Themes, sub-themes and categories regarding factors affecting media trust.

Themes	Sub-themes	Categories	No. of observation	Examples
Factors influencing trust	Credibility of content creators	Creator’s profile	15	"I trust content creators who know what they’re talking about. If they have a background in the subject, I'm more likely to believe them"
		Community Feedback and Reviews	16	“If there are a lot of positive comments on the videos such as “Thank you very much”, “it’s really helpful”, “I have heard about this before…” or viewers tag their friends in the comments, it means that video is valuable and trustworthy”
		Consistency	11	“I often look at the previous videos of those TikTokers to see if they maintain consistency in their messaging”
	Familiarity with content creators	Past experience	10	"I trust the content of creators I follow regularly because I've seen their content before and found it trustworthy”
		Personal connection	13	“My friend is a TikToker, she has 1 million followers. And I’m kinda interested in watching her video because it’s quite relevant and helpful to me”
	User engagement	Number of likes and comments	11	“I once watch a TikTok video of a fortune teller, he predicts different things about the earth and the change of earth frequency. I kinda believe in what he said because there are more than 2000 likes for that video. If it is wrong, how can so many people like it, right?”
		Number of followers	24	“I believe that a large number of followers reflects the collective judgment of many people. For examples, I love to visit the crowded restaurants because the food there must be so good that they can attract a lot of customers. It’s kinda a wisdom of the crowd”
	Repetition of the similar content		9	“If that news is discussed and shared by many TikTokers I think it might be true”

Figure 1. Factors affecting trust in TikTok content among University students.