The Influence of Fake News on College Students

Indianapolis, IN

This paper analyzes the extent to which college students are being affected by “fake news” portrayed on television and social media. In-depth interviews were conducted with college students at Butler University in order to gain an understanding of how young adults view fake news, the news outlets they receive their news from, and the methods they use to determine whether news is real or fake. The interviews showed that students primarily receive their news information from social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. In order to detect and avoid falling victim to fake news, students reveal they are very active in checking and verifying sources via the Internet. The students further divulged that the grammar in news articles and headlines is often indicative of whether the information is real or fake. This study is important in understanding how young adults are being affected by the news and the impact that fake news can have on this generation of people.