Abstract
A fake news ecosystem is akin to a marketplace where content generators and users exchange content like sellers and buyers. The popularity of a product in this marketplace is influenced by rhetorical features (ethos, pathos, and logos), topic categories (hard news, soft news, and general news), and design motivations (political intent, fun, etc.). Therefore, the determinants of the popularity of fake news should be contextualized better to understand the spreading patterns. First, we obtained a sample from a fact-checking organization (n=439). Then, we categorized tweets based on their topics and design motivation by using biaxial content analysis. Next, we proposed a rhetorical framework to organize the tweet-related indicators to develop the content’s systematic characterization. Finally, we examined both the primary and interaction effects of topics, design motivations, and organized rhetorical features of tweets on popularity through a negative binomial regression. The main results revealed a positive relationship between logos-related features (i.e., the number of followers) and the popularity of the fake tweets. In addition, an exciting interaction effect indicated that fake tweets designed with political intent are nearly five times less retweeted when they contain hashtags. The research and practical implications and future directions were also discussed.
Highlights
Fake news is defined as “fabricated information that mimics news media content in form but not in organizational process or intent” (Lazer et al, 2018, p. 1094)
We found that people were more likely to share fake hard news and soft news than general news
This study addressed the effects of rhetorical features on the spread of fake news
Summary
Fake news is defined as “fabricated information that mimics news media content in form but not in organizational process or intent” (Lazer et al, 2018, p. 1094). It includes three basic forms of information disorder: misinformation, disinformation, and mal-information. These disorders are often distinguished by the degree to which fake news is based on facts and whether it was created intentionally (Wardle & Derakhshan, 2017). Infuriated by the claimed fraud in the latest U.S presidential election, thousands stormed Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021, intending to halt Joe Biden’s inauguration as U.S president (West, 2021). The insurrection left behind five casualties (Wise, 2021) and resulted in an impeachment trial of Trump where he stood accused of inciting an insurrection by spreading false claims about the legitimacy of the U.S presidential election (Levine & Gambino, 2021). Evident from the story, fake news exacerbates political polarization across society and undermines democracy
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