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A new study sheds light on how people come to share false or exaggerated news stories on social media. The research, published in Computers in Human Behavior, suggests that the belief that “news will find me” can increase the likelihood of sharing fake news.
While much attention has focused on malicious actors or bots, recent evidence suggests that much of the spread of fake news comes from ordinary users who may not realize they’re sharing false information. The researchers behind the new study focused on the role of passive news exposure, especially among people who rely on social media and mobile phones to encounter news without actively seeking it out.
“People increasingly rely on serendipitous encounters with news, as opposed to actively seeking it out, to be informed. This study extends previous research on this ‘news-finds-me’ perception by showing it can lead to sharing news that is inaccurate or exaggerated, i.e., fake,” said study author Scott W. Campbell, a professor and Rinehart Chair in Mediated Communication at The Ohio State University.
The researchers conducted a longitudinal survey of 337 U.S. adults who self-identified as having strong “Alt-Right” beliefs. All participants identified as white, used social media regularly, and leaned politically Republican. Most were women (55%), and the average age was 43.5 years.
Participants were surveyed at three time points between August 2022 and March 2023. They were asked about their social media habits, mobile phone use, news-sharing behaviors, and how much they agreed with statements indicating a belief that important news would naturally reach them through their peers and platforms.
The researchers measured fake news-sharing with items that asked whether participants had shared news stories that were later found to be false or exaggerated—either knowingly or unknowingly. The news-finds-me perception was assessed with questions like “I can be well informed even when I don’t actively follow the news” and “I rely on my friends to tell me what’s important when news happens.”
The study found that people who scored higher on the news-finds-me perception at the second time point were more likely to report sharing fake news at the third time point, even after accounting for earlier behaviors. This supports the idea that passively encountering news through social media and friends can make people more susceptible to spreading misinformation.
“This study shows that when people rely on serendipitous encounters with news, they are more likely to pass along news that is inaccurate or exaggerated,” Campbell told PsyPost. “In other words, fake news can ‘slip through the cracks’ when their guard is down.”
In addition to this direct effect, the researchers examined how specific uses of social media and mobile phones were related to the news-finds-me perception—and, in turn, fake news-sharing. Some social media platforms were more likely to foster this perception than others.
Using Facebook and Instagram, which are built around social interaction, was linked to stronger beliefs that news would reach the user without effort. This belief, in turn, predicted greater sharing of fake news. On the other hand, using Reddit—a platform more oriented toward information-gathering—was associated with a reduced belief in the news-finds-me idea and less fake news-sharing.
The researchers also looked at alternative social media platforms, such as Parler, Gab, Truth Social, Rumble, and Telegram. Of these, only Telegram showed a significant link to the news-finds-me perception and subsequent fake news-sharing. The researchers suggest that Telegram’s private messaging and group chat features may reinforce the sense that news can be trusted when it comes from peers, which is central to the news-finds-me mindset.
Mobile phone use showed similar patterns. People who frequently used their phones to stay socially connected were more likely to develop the news-finds-me perception and later share fake news.
Interestingly, people who used their phones specifically to get political information were less likely to rely on the news-finds-me belief and shared less fake news overall. This suggests that purposeful political engagement may counteract the tendency to passively accept information as accurate.
The researchers note that their findings help expand understanding of both the psychological and technological conditions that foster fake news-sharing. Rather than blaming individuals for intentionally spreading misinformation, the study emphasizes how certain digital environments and habits make passive engagement with news more likely.
“Much of our mobile and social media use today is done without a lot of thinking or agency, and we increasingly rely on algorithms and online contacts to keep us informed,” Campbell said. “Under these conditions, people should heighten their awareness of media, to be more mindful and agentic, rather than passive, in constructing their information and communication environments.”
But as with all research, there are limitations to consider. The study relied on self-reported behaviors, which can be influenced by memory biases or social desirability. In addition, the participants were all drawn from a specific ideological group, which may limit how well the findings apply to the broader public. “Future research should use a more generalizable sample,” Campbell said.
“We have a follow-up study in press that shows how important it is to have an agentic mindset while using social media,” he added. “Having an agentic mindset helps makes users be more aware and active in their social media usen(i.e., less habitual), which hinders the ‘news-finds-me’ perception.”
The study, “(Fake) news-finds-me: Interactive social and mobile media uses and incidental news reliance as antecedents of fake news-sharing,” was authored by Ian Hawkins and Scott W. Campbell.
