Due to their user behavior, Internet users tend to only see news and posts that correspond to their own worldview.
In order to get its users out of their own thought bubbles, WhatsApp is now considering introducing options that make it possible to mark posts in groups as fake.
A study commissioned by Facebook and carried out by the University of Pennsylvania, among others, confirmed these results. However, there is also a workaround.
If other users in the group marked posts as fake, or at least expressed doubts about the authenticity of the content, other group members also doubted the truth of the message.
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Researchers conducted this study in India with approximately 5,000 social media users. They were shown screenshots of a fake but real-looking WhatsApp post. This post contained a controversial statement. For some study participants, the screenshot also contained a message within the fictitious chat questioning the truth of this statement.
These fictitious doubts from an unknown person encouraged the relevant study participants to accept these doubts and do their own research.
If content is marked as “unconfirmed” or “doubtful” by a community, it can encourage other readers not to immediately believe such contributions and to question them.
According to the researchers, it is not possible to make such corrections public on WhatsApp; an anonymous “doubt” button would be the method of choice here.
So, similar to a “like button” on many other social media platforms, you could add an emoji in the form of a warning signal or question mark. The operators would not have to examine these signals, but this could convey that users in a chat have different opinions about statements made in it.
[mk_ad]
WhatsApp has long been implementing measures to combat fake news on its platform in India. For example, early last year in India, WhatsApp set up a “tip line” through which users can send forwards, rumors and suspicious-sounding messages in order to verify them. WhatsApp had also announced in early 2019 that it would delete 2 million accounts per month as part of its efforts to curb fake news on the platform. WhatsApp also announced that it would limit the number of forwards allowed per message to 5.
As for the integration of the 'doubt' feature on the WhatsApp platform, it could actually come in handy, especially considering the fact that the instant messaging platform does not have a specific feature on board that allows users to flag fake messages .
Simply following a plan and being able to identify fakes and lies is at least a start.
Author: Ingrid Brockhaus
Sources: PT , Mashable
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