MONKTOBERFEST 2018: Psychology of Fake News

Fake news spread six times faster in social media than true stories. As technologists, our industry has built the tools that enable the spread of disinformation across social, the web, and beyond. But fake news is nothing new, it has been a part of each advancement in the technology that powers the spread of information, from the printing press to blogging. What makes fake news so appealing? Is it a tech problem or a human problem? In this talk, I will explain the psychology that makes fake news appealing to our brain, and what technology can learn about this psychology to build better tools.

Transcript

1. PSYCHOLOGY OF FAKE NEWS [CECY CORREA // @cecycorrea // 2018] AND WHAT TECH CAN DO ABOUT IT
2. RESEARCHING FAKE NEWS SINCE 2016
3. HOW DID WE GET HERE?
5. WHY DO PEOPLE BELIEVE FAKE NEWS?
6. THE PSYCHOLOGY BEHIND FAKE NEWS
7. HOW BELIEFS ARE FORMED HOW WE EXPERIENCE KNOWLEDGE
8. THINKING FAST AND SLOW, DANIEL KAHNEMAN HOW BELIEFS ARE FORMED
9. STUDY: “Steve is very shy and withdrawn. Helpful but shows little interest in people. Meek and tidy with a passion for structure.” IS STEVE A FARMER OR A LIBRARIAN?
10. STUDY: “Steve is very shy and withdrawn. Helpful but shows little interest in people. Meek and tidy with a passion for structure.” IS STEVE A FARMER OR A LIBRARIAN?
11. 20 FARMERS PER 1 LIBRARIAN
12. SYSTEM 1 fast, automatic, intuitive (FAST)
13. SYSTEM 2 Analytical (SLOW)
14. WE USE SLOW MIND (SYSTEM 2) TO FORM BELIEFS, OUR ACTIONS ON THOSE BELIEFS ARE INSTINCTUAL
15. FAKE NEWS SITES COVERING THE SAME ‘STORY’ SOURCE: BUZZFEED
16. YELLOW JOURNALISM EST. 1890s
17. SENSATIONALISTIC HEADLINES WORK BECAUSE THEY APPEAL TO OUR FEELINGS
18. WHERE DO FEELINGS FIT WITH BELIEFS AND KNOWLEDGE?
19. “WHEN FACED WITH A DIFFICULT QUESTION, WE ANSWER AN EASIER ONE INSTEAD”
20. HOW WE ANSWER QUESTIONS WITH FEELINGS “How should financial advisors who prey on the elderly be punished?” “How much anger do I feel when I think of financial predators?”
21. WE CAN OFTEN CONFUSE FEELINGS FOR KNOWLEDGE
22. KNOWLEDGE THE KNOWLEDGE ILLUSION
23. EXERCISE: DRAW A BIKE
24. KNOWLEDGE IS SHALLOW “BY DESIGN”
25. OUR BRAINS COULD NOT FUNCTION IF WE WERE AWARE OF HOW MUCH WE DON’T KNOW
26. THE KNOWLEDGE ILLUSION THE KNOWLEDGE ILLUSION “...strong feelings about issues do not emerge from deep understanding... but it deepens as more people believe this together”
28. BELIEVING (FEELING) TOGETHER
29. FAKE NEWS SPREAD SOURCE: THE ATLANTIC
30. “It seems to be pretty clear that false information outperforms true information,” said Soroush Vosoughi, a data scientist at MIT who has studied fake news since 2013 and who led this study. “And that is not just because of bots. It might have something to do with human nature.”
31. TWO STORIES
32. A TALE OF TWO STORIES THEN PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL DONALD TRUMP FLIES CRITICALLY ILL CHILD ANDREW TEN FROM CALIFORNIA TO NEW YORK IN HIS PRIVATE JET FOR TREATMENT OBITUARY FROM DONALD TRUMP’S DECEASED COUSIN IMPLORES THE PUBLIC NOT TO VOTE FOR THE GOP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE.
33. A TALE OF TWO STORIES THEN PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL DONALD TRUMP FLIES CRITICALLY ILL CHILD ANDREW TEN FROM CALIFORNIA TO NEW YORK IN HIS PRIVATE JET FOR TREATMENT ✅ OBITUARY FROM DONALD TRUMP’S DECEASED COUSIN IMPLORES THE PUBLIC NOT TO VOTE FOR THE GOP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE. ❌
34. FAKE NEWS STORIES OUTPERFORM TRUE STORIES BY ABOUT 6X
35. FAKE NEWS STORIES ELICIT A STRONG EMOTIONAL RESPONSE
36. THE HATE CLICK SOURCE: ScreenCrush
37. CAN WE DISPROVE FAKE NEWS?
38. EXERCISE: DRAW A BIKE EXPLAIN POLICY
39. GREAT! LET’S DO THAT!
40. TURNS OUT PEOPLE DON’T LIKE FEELING DUMB
42. “For some of our participants, checking out the other bubble only confirmed their commitment to staying inside their own.”
43. “A GOOD LEADER MUST BE ABLE TO HELP PEOPLE REALIZE THEIR IGNORANCE WITHOUT MAKING THEM FEEL STUPID”
44. THIS IS WHERE TECH COMES IN!
45. SOURCE: CNN
46. FUTUREOFFAKENEWS.COM
47. SOURCE: @arsduo
49. WE NEED TO TAKE GREATER OWNERSHIP OF OUR PRODUCTS / TOOLS
50. SOURCE: VANITY FAIR
51. “You can’t tell your advertisers that you can target users down to the tiniest pixel but then throw your hands up before the politicians and say your machines can’t figure out if bad actors are using your platform.” —Jessica Powell
52. PERSPECTIVE API
53. SOURCE: Forbes
54. THE OPPORTUNITY IS OUT THERE