Facebook gives articles context to fight fake news (FB)

BI Intelligence

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In its latest effort to combat misinformation and fake news, Facebook is testing a feature that gives users additional information around articles shared in the News Feed.

The feature, indicated by a letter “i” icon near the headline of an article, will provide users with contextual information like the publisher’s Facebook and Wikipedia pages, Related Articles on the topic, and information on how other users are sharing the article.

BI Intelligence suggested the social platform could implement a tool to help users distinguish credible publishers on the platform last week. The new feature is beneficial to Facebook’s overall strategy in combating fake news for the following reasons: 

• It will assist users in identifying phony publisher accounts. If a publisher doesn’t have a Facebook or Wikipedia page available, users will know to take the information with a grain of salt, and remain cautious of the publisher’s validity. Although this does not necessarily curb the amount of fake news being spread on the platform, users may be more likely to identify false information on Facebook in the first place.  
• It may help ease users’ concerns over Facebook’s recent high profile fake news blunder. Facebook’s “Safety Check” page promoted a story that incorrectly identified the suspect of the Las Vegas mass shooting last week. This makes the announcement of this feature timely, as user skepticism of the platform’s news may currently be particularly piqued. 

Meanwhile, Wikipedia will likely become an increasingly important element of a publisher’s image. As Facebook more widely rolls out the new tool and more users begin to lean on Wikipedia to help them judge an article’s credibility, publishers will likely put more emphasis on ensuring their Wikipedia page accurately and favorably reflects them. 

This may contribute to users becoming cautious of Wikipedia pages of publishers, as certain publishers may have an incentive to curate their Wikipedia profile. However, the website has over 130,000 accounts actively making edits, with over 10 edits being made per second.

Trust is timely. In an era in which fake news is trending, and brands are pulling advertising from large publishers because they don’t want their messaging associated with offensive content, trust is a critical factor that brands consider when re-evaluating digital ad strategies.

Digital trust is the confidence people have in a platform’s ability to protect and promote the interests of its users. 

The Digital Trust Report, a brand new report from BI Intelligence, examines consumers’ perception of major social platforms. It rates Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and LinkedIn on security, community, user experience, and content authenticity and shareability. These insights help brands and marketers make informed decisions about where to spend their marketing and branding dollars.

All of the information in this survey comes from our proprietary BI Insiders panel, made up of more than 15,000 specially selected and recruited Business Insider readers. This panel is designed to be a leading indicator of what’s next in digital. The panelists are business and tech savvy, they have buying power, and they’re highly engaged. The survey revealed some fascinating insights into how millennials and decision makers view today’s most popular social media platforms.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

• Digital trust has been shaken by a proliferation of malicious content and data breaches, which has significant consequences for brands that use these platforms.
• The top platform won by a huge margin on most attributes. Content on this platform is more likely to be viewed as forthright and honest, which increases the persuasiveness of ads and marketing messages that appear alongside it. This also creates ideal conditions for thought leadership and branded and sponsored content to flourish.
• The second-ranked platform was bolstered by users' confidence sharing content they find there. Users were most apt to share content they found there, which, together with its massive audience and high engagement, makes it the right platform to maximize reach.
• The social platform that finished dead last did so because of its abusive comments section and extremely annoying ads. Still, this hasn’t dissuaded people from visiting, as evidenced by the time spent monthly and massive user base. This platform also resonates more with older generations.

The Digital Trust Report is only available with a subscription to BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service. To access this report, plus hundreds of other deep dives into the future of digital, click here.