According to Craig Silverman, a Buzzfeed creator, the top 20 fake news articles attracted more clicks and website traffic then any credible publication during the 2016 election. Of course, a phenomenon like like this would begin to stir in our generation due to the absent mindedness of the millennial, right?
Wrong.
Fake news is far from new. Rumors have been around for hundreds of years and have been used to slander others in efforts to get ahead.
"Propaganda, lies, and fairy tales have always been part of human discourse" -Jeff St. Claire
However, with high speed internet and social media any news is so easy to spread globally with just a click of a retweet or share. Due to societies issues with facing third person effect or simply "jumping on the bandwagon", many people fall into their own, and others, confirmation bias. By seeing something online that fits their political agenda, factual or not, it gives people a feeling of euphoria which spreads like wild fire. It's easy for someone with little to no media literacy to deny facts that disagree with their own opinion and eventually, these groups of people unite in a cult-like fashion and create illegitimate ideas.
Yes, I'm looking at you flat-earthers.
Especially with our current president writing off many true statements as "fake news", society is beginning to wreak havoc, throwing around their own bigotry, racism and sexism all while using fake online articles to justify their ghastly opinions.
So how can you abstain from this nation wide problem? The best way is to listen to and understand the bias coming from the sources in which you receive news as well as your own. Before you believe a Facebook shared post about the dangers of vaccinations from your aunt Becky, question the legitimacy of the source. Don't treat the top major news sources like the bible. Do your own research, take two minutes out of your day to fact check statements, and most of all, don't let confirmation bias destroy our world with fake news.