Twitter suspended an account that helped spread a controversial encounter between a Native American elder and a group of high school students wearing Make America Great Again hats.
"From fake news to chaos! How bad are you? Get as many followers as you can." This decision-based story will help you understand how and why fake news spreads.
10 Types of Misleading News
Beyond Fake News: 10 Types of Misleading News
propaganda
adopted by governments, corporations and non-profits to manage attitudes, values and knowledge
appeals to emotion
can be beneficial or harmful
partisan
ideological and includes interpretation of facts but may claim to be impartial
privileges facts that conform to the narrative whilst forgoing others
emotional and passionate language
clickbait
eye catching, sensational headlines designed to distract
often misleading and content may not reflect headline
drives ad revenue
conspiracy theory
tries to explain simply complex realities as response to fear or uncertainty
not falsifiable and evidence that refutes the conspiracy is regarded as further proof of the conspiracy
rejects experts and authority
sponsored content
advertising made to look like editorial
potential conflict of interest for genuine news organizations
consumers might not identify content as advertising if it is not clearly labeled
pseudoscience
purveyors of greenwashing, miracle cures, anti-vaccination and climate change denial
misrepresents real scientific studies with exaggerated or false claims
often contradicts experts
satire and hoax
social commentary or humor
varies widely in quality and intended meaning may not be apparent
can embarrass people who confuse the content as true
misinformation
includes a mix of factual, false or partly false content
intention can be to inform but author may not be aware the content is false
false attributions, doctored content and misleading headlines
error
established news organizations sometimes make mistakes
mistakes can hurt the brand, offend or result in litigation
reputable orgs publish apologies
bogus
entirely fabricated content spread intentionally to disinform
guerrilla marketing tactics, bots, comments and counterfeit branding
motivated by ad revenue, political influence or both
DIG DEEPER
false attribution
authentic images, video or quotes are attributed to the wrong events or person
counterfeit
websites and Twitter accounts that pose as a well-known brand or person
misleading
content does not represent what the headline and captions suggest
doctored content
content, such as statistics, graphs, photos and video have been modified or doctored
