• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home News Media

Beckham rumours – Social media causing “Chinese whispers” turning fake news into news

Scientists said the dangers of sharing of information on social media can lead to threats being amplified and twisted promoting 'crowd hysteria.’

Guest Contributor by Guest Contributor
2018-06-08 15:15
in Media, News
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

Social media is causing “Chinese whispers” turning fake news into news and sparking mass panic such as Olly Murs infamous tweet during last year’s ‘non-terror’ attack on Oxford Circus.

Now a rumour about David Beckham has spread across social media and it has been flatly denied by the ex-football star. The couple called the claims a “crock of s***” and also “embarrassing and laughable.”

Olly Murs tweeted to his 7.8million Twitter followers: “F*ck everyone get out of @Selfridges now gunshots!! I’m inside” before the incident was ruled a false alarm.

Scientists said the dangers of sharing of information on social media can lead to threats being amplified and twisted promoting ‘crowd hysteria.’

Terrorism, disease outbreaks, nuclear accidents and other potential threats in news stories become increasingly negative, inaccurate and hysterical when passed along a chain from person to person, University of Warwick researchers found.

What starts off as balanced information shared on social media platforms ends up being amplified into threats which evoke feelings of dread among the public.

Psychology Professor Thomas Hills said: “The more people share information, the more negative it becomes, the further it gets from the facts and the more resistant it becomes to correction.

RelatedPosts

Met Office forecasts extreme heat conditions for Glastonbury 2050

Royal spending surpasses £100m as household incomes fall for record fourth quarter in a row

WTF! Bernie Ecclestone says he would ‘take a bullet for Putin’

Piers Corbyn handed fines for breaching Covid-19 rules during anti-lockdown protests

“Society is an amplifier for risk. This research explains why our world looks increasingly threatening despite consistent reductions in real-world threats.”

The study shows even neutral facts and balanced information cannot calm our feelings of dread and horror after the eruption of fake news.

Researchers analysed 154 participants on social media who were split into 14 chains of eight people.

A balanced and factual news article was given to the first person in each chain who read the article and sent a message about the story to the next person.

The recipient wrote a new message based on the information they had received and sent it to the next person in the chain and so on.

The sixth person in each chain was given the message from the previous person alongside the original neutral news story.

In every chain, stories about dreaded topics became increasingly more negative and biased toward panic and fear as it was passed from person to person.

This effect was not mitigated when the original unbiased facts were reintroduced.

This crucial evidence proved to scientists that the original neutral information had virtually no effect on reducing people’s increasingly negative outlook.

Prof Hills added: “Results showed that the more a message was transmitted the more negative statements it contained. This was highest for the high dread topic.

“Reexposue to the initial information was ineffectual in reducing bias, demonstrating the enhanced danger of socially transmitted information.”

Scientists believe the results have important implications for contemporary society – with the constant proliferation of news stories (both legitimate and fake), rumours, retweets and messages across social media.

The study was published in the journal Risk Analysis.

 

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.

The shop can be found here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending
Abdollah

‘Rescue us’: Afghan teacher begs UK to help him escape Taliban

CHOMSKY: “If Corbyn had been elected, Britain would be pursuing a much more sane course”

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

More from TLE

The one where the Govt only finds £1.4bn for schools but £3.5bn for tanks that barely work

This robot Donald Trump is truly scary

Seven of London’s most sustainable buildings

Wife of man stabbed to death on train in front of son cried as jury watched footage of attack

How To Make: Classic Macaroni and Cheese with a Scrumptious Crust

UNICEF to help feed British kids for the first time in history

Dramatic CCTV shows have-a-go hero shopkeeper fighting off gang of thugs despite being battered with hammers

Aubameyang to Arsenal as Gunners go Gun-ho

These are the world’s most expensive handguns: £3.2 million pistols made from 4.5 billion-year-old meteorite

Cost of booking your favourite band

JOBS

FIND MORE JOBS

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.