The illusion of knowledge. The universe of fake news. An explorative survey with adolescents

Abstract

Information and its use are essential elements within society and media culture since they help us understand what is happening around us. On the other hand, however, a series of information disturbances are spreading around due to the circulation of false and deliberately misleading information.

The “fake news” label has entered (not only) the political debate and the attention for the methods of online information acquisition highlights a growing concern about the impact of digital platforms on democratic and social life. In fact, the degree of vulnerability of companies, institutions and individuals to manipulation by malicious media actors still needs to be studied.

This contribution presents the results of an exploratory survey, carried out using social networks, involving 290 teenagers. The survey was aimed at detecting the relationship that teenagers have with fake news, their habits on the net, their ability to distinguish between true news and false news, as well as to identify strategies and tools implemented by the school to develop critical & creative skills to recognize fake news. The results, although not to be generalized, are comforting and surprising.