Call it the curse of the Internet age: Lies spread farther, faster, deeper and more broadly than the truth.
In the first detailed analysis of how misinformation spreads through the Twittersphere, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that false news is 70 percent more likely to be retweeted than the truth.
It takes the truth about six times as long as a falsehood to reach 1500 people, they discovered.
Don’t blame the bots. Contrary to conventional wisdom, we’re the ones spreading all the bad stuff, according to the analysis. That’s likely because falsehoods are more novel and click-y than the truth …read more
Source: The Mercury News
