On a daily basis, we scroll through a plethora of news articles, completely oblivious of the authenticity of the content. Fake news mirror real, legitimate news in several ways so we unwittingly believe what we read. This blog post investigates the tactics and schemes that fake news creators use to lure users and consequently achieve their goal.
Fake news is a multi-step process that involves stealing and editing other's content, publishing it as real news, and utilizing social media to garner attention. Essentially, the primary goal of those who create fake news is to attract as many visitors to their websites as possible. This may be in order to impose ideologies or gain advertising revenue when visitors view sites that contain ads. Whatever the reason may be, fake news creators go to great lengths to establish credibility using the following steps.
Firstly, a website, which will present the fake news, needs to be created. The owners of these sites attempt to create domain names and web hosts which reflect actual news websites. If the website name does not appear legitimate, it could raise suspicions among visitors. Thus, the creators of fake news will coin names that provide an illusion of credibility and authenticity. Polifact.com created a list of 330 fake news websites, which prove the resemblance between real news and fake news websites. Additionally, the layout and design of fake news websites are strategically designed to duplicate real news sites. Below are a few examples of fake news sites.
Next, fake news creators need to produce false content that appear genuine. While they could create their own content, fake news site owners prefer a simpler and cheaper alternative: stealing others' content. The most common sources are satire websites and "clickbait" news. Satire websites, such as The Onion and Clickhole, post preposterous versions of the truth, while clickbait news, including Buzzfeed and Upworthy, use dramatized and sensationalized headlines to tempt readers into reading more content. Fake news creators conveniently copy and re-post this content on their own websites, perhaps with a few modifications. They rely on the outrageous headlines to lure readers to their websites.
After stealing new content, fake news creators proceed to monetize it. Through advertising, fake news website owners earn money when visitors visit their website, or even better, click on the ads. They sell parts of their web pages to advertising agencies, who then link ads bought by other companies and services to these news websites. The advertising agencies develop algorithms that use tracking data from cookies, which records users' web viewing history. This process helps them build consumer profiles that allow them to target specific advertisements which a user is highly likely to click on. Author J. Albright accurately stated that "advertising companies act as the 'middleman'". Therefore, the roles involved in maintaining a fake news website is split between the fake news creators, who focus on attracting traffic, and advertisers, who concentrate on targeting their advertisements to a large audience. This symbiotic relationship benefits both stakeholders monetarily.
Finally, social media fulfills the purpose of circulating fake news on the internet. The most common approach is by stealing real identities, creating fake accounts on social media platforms, and then disseminating fake news under false pretenses. The victims may be ordinary unsuspecting citizens who are completely unaware that their identities have been stolen. Although fake news creators may be successful at creating fake persons, they cannot, however, replicate friends and followers from actual accounts. One solution is to add random friends and send them links to the fake news website. However, this could raise a few red flags. A more conspicuous strategy would be to target existing exploitable interest groups on social media. For example, sending links about animal cruelty to social media groups of animal lovers would be an efficient method to attract visitors to the fake news sites.
Although this process can prove very successful when implemented tactfully, it is by no means foolproof. It involves trial and error and strategic techniques to maintain clicks and views. However, this model of manufacturing fake news works exceedingly well because it is an easy technique which does not entail high expenses or strong expertise.
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