How to Prevent Fake News on Social Media from Misleading Students

A resident of Tiburon, California, Isabella Bacino is a political science student at Cal Poly State University. At the institution, Isabella Bacino has conducted research on the influence of social media on college students’ political beliefs.

Her research found that social media does play a role in shaping students’ political opinions and that less politically engaged students were more likely to be misled than politically engaged students. The study included the following recommendations to stem the tide of misrepresentation arising from fake news on social media: 

Users should get their news from reputable and authoritative news sites, not from their social media news feeds. In specific, they should get their political news from renowned outlets like the New York Times, NPR, CNN, and BBC. If they do see political news on social media, they should verify it from reputable news outlets.

Students should also be encouraged to form their own political opinions through comprehensive research and deductive reasoning rather than peer or parental influence. They should do their own research, look at all relevant facts, and then make determinations. The more politically engaged students are, the less likely they are to be influenced by fake news on social media. This research, and more like it, can be found at isabellabacino.org.