• Optional@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    “Our work demonstrates that while most people actually prefer to engage with and share factual information, when they are tired, overwhelmed, or just plain lazy(+), they’re less likely to think about the veracity of a news story, and can get stuck into habits where they click on more stories from sites producing misinformation.”

    This effect can be particularly important when online media production focuses on a particular topic, for example during election cycles, leading to readers inadvertently clicking on links from sites they would not otherwise go to for their news content.(++)

    (+) or stupid. They didn’t say that but it feels like they really wanted to

    (++) like businessinsider.com

    • ryannathans@aussie.zone
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      4 months ago

      Mentioning a site’s url or name online increases their ranking in search engines and drives more traffic to the site