To help counter the rapid spread of online misinformation, Cambridge University researchers developed a "fake news game" in which participants were tasked with creating a news articles about a strongly politicised issue using misinformation tactics from the perspectives of different types of fake news producers. The game was pilot tested in a randomised field study (N=95) in a public high school setting. The results indicted that educational games like this may be a promising way to inoculate the public against fake news.
Highlights:
- Building on prior work on inoculation theory and extending it to "active inoculation" the fake news game was built in a novel and practical direction with clear educational value.
- The experimental pilot study found that the process of active inoculation by participating in the fake news game reduced the perceived reliability and appeal of fake news articles.
- The findings of the study fell in line with inoculation theory as a form of resistance by exposing participants to various tactics that go behind a fake news production.
- The reader of this study is however encouraged to think of the findings as novel but "exploratory" in its lack of a certain degree of statistical precision and power.