Research finds that false information travels faster on social media than the truth

The findings of two recent studies may be worrisome for fact-checkers, Craig Silverman writes. Two studies found that false information travels faster on social media than fact-checking efforts can keep up: One study from the University of Warwick found that false rumors take longer to be debunked on Twitter than a rumor that turns out to be true, while another from Indiana University found “a characteristic lag of approximately 13 hours between the production of misinformation and that of fact checking.”

+ Earlier: Research from API’s fact-checking project shows that false information on Twitter outnumbers efforts to correct it by a ratio of 3 to 1

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from American Press Institute http://ift.tt/1T6QRAT