People never remember, or care, who wrote a news story they read. But they really care who shared it on Facebook.
Americans will trust that the story they read isn't fake news if it's shared by someone they trust, according to a new report from the Media Insight Project.
"People who see an article from a trusted sharer, but one written by an unknown media source, have much more trust in the information than people who see the same article that appears to come from a reputable media source shared by a person they do not trust," the report said.
SEE ALSO:Supreme Court weighs a constitutional right to social media accessThe Media Insight Project, a collaboration between the American Press Institute and the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, made a fake version of Facebook for 1,489 people. Those people saw the same stories, but the source of the reporting and the person who shared it varied. Participants answered questions about how much they trusted the news.
The stories, mostly about health, were attributed to the fake DailyNewsReview.com or the AP. But that didn't matter as much as who shared it.
To gain trust, the story didn't have to be from a user's own friend or family member. Participants saw stories shared by Oprah. And if they trust Oprah, they were more likely to think the story got the facts right, had diverse points of view, was entertaining, made it easy to find important information and was well-reported and trustworthy.
SEE ALSO:Here’s how you create echo chambers on FacebookFifty-one percent of participants thought that a story on diabetes was well-reported when it came from a public figure they trusted. When it was shared by someone they didn't trust, that number dropped to 34 percent.
That dropoff stayed around the same even when the article was written with the Associated Press as its source.
So for news organizations it matters not just how many people are sharing their stories, but who is sharing them. And you better hope it's Oprah.
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