THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA MISINFORMATION IN SHAPING NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Authors: Solomon Koko Bekele
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17435524
Published: July 2024
Abstract
<p><em>This paper examines the rapid creation and dissemination of artificial news and its implications for citizen journalism, news gathering, and broadcasting globally. Fake news reporting has emerged as a pervasive phenomenon affecting all age groups, cultures, communities, and social classes. While users in industrialized nations share phony news due to easy access to portable devices, those in emerging economies contribute to widespread dissemination partly because of limited resources to discern real news from fake news. The paper argues that users in both contexts may be less motivated to verify news content because fake news often provides intrigue. Using examples of social injustice, the study demonstrates that fake news sharing on social media can significantly impact nation-building and socio-economic development, especially in politically fragile states such as Cameroon, Libya, Burma, Iran, Indonesia, and China. Anchored in social interaction and uses and gratifications theories, the paper further explores how a networked, fast-paced news-sharing society can function as a global family and how fake news can serve as a tool for community mobilization</em></p>
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