Today, more and more people believe important news will reach them online without their actively seeking it out. Instead, they believe “news finds me,” relying on algorithms and social networks for information.
A new study co-authored by University of Florida Assistant Professor of Advertising Yuan Sun, Ph.D., found that those who hold the “news finds me” perception were more likely to trust the algorithm and more likely to consider their social media friends and algorithms as authoritative as news journalists and editors. Such a mindset may make people more likely to believe and share misinformation.
This perception is a relatively recent phenomenon, driven by the popularity of social media and, more importantly, their recommendation algorithms. Instead of checking news sites or reading the newspaper, those with the news finds me perception get their news secondhand from others, like their social media friends or through recommended posts on social media. There are different levels to the perception, with high-level individuals more likely to rely on these social networks to receive news than low-level individuals.
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