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Recognizing and Labeling Fake News: Student Perspective

As more and more people not only have internet access, but are spending a fair amount of their time online, it is important to possess skills and knowledge to recognize misleading and inaccurate information resources. Individuals are constantly engaging with all kinds of information online, especially the student population whether for study, research or for fun. Since they are the future academic citizens a question is popping up whether they can recognize not only a disinformation but what type of disinformation they are facing regardless of their field of study. Whether they are studying to be a doctor, architect, historian or literature professor, the same rule should apply for everyone - to know how to spot fake news and false information as in this age of information society it is imperative to gain such skills while engaging with online content. For the purpose of this research an infographic made by the EAVI European Association for Viewers' Interests will be used as they created a smart and effective way of recognising different types of fake news to the public (the infographic was based on Steinberg’s 10 categories of fake news). Data analysis and a questionnaire are being conducted among the student population of the University of Josip Juraj Strossmayer in Osijek, Croatia. Different examples are being given to students where they have to recognize whether they've been given a fake news article, they have to decide on what type of fake news they are facing, what kind of impact the false information can have on the society if misinterpreted as true, and they will have to give their opinion on what they think is behind the motivation of each given example of fake news. The purpose of this research is to determine to what extent students in the city of Osijek are implementing their knowledge about fake news in digital environment, can they and how well can they identify false resources. Data was gathered with the help of quantitative methodology. There was no similar study of this type conducted in the city of Osijek before, therefore authors of this research believe that this paper will with its originality contribute directly to the importance of this topic in academia and send a clearer picture if there should be more courses on this subject integrated in the curricula on a university level. This study can either serve as an example of good practice or as a suggestion and notice that university program should be more involved and active in the field of information literacy and resources.

fake news ; digital society ; student population ; University of Josip Juraj Strossmayer in Osijek ; information literacy

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