Australians routinely encounter misinformation in their everyday online lives, and it's not just limited to politics or pandemics, according to new research in collaboration with QUT's Digital Media Research Centre.
The study, Everyday encounters with misinformation online: examining sources, topics and modes, has just been published in Information, Communication & Society. Its findings point to an erosion of trust and disengagement from credible news.
The researchers asked 55 adults to record examples of online content they found false, misleading or untrustworthy, revealed misinformation was far more "everyday" than commonly assumed. Participants most frequently flagged content about business and economics, celebrity news, entertainment and breaking crises, and often identified mainstream news outlets as key sources of misleading material.
Lead author Dr Aimee Hourigan said the findings challenged assumptions misinformation was confined to fringe platforms or extreme topics.
"People aren't just encountering misinformation about elections or vaccines," Dr Hourigan said.
"They're seeing questionable claims about tax hacks, celebrity scandals, local crime and breaking news - the kinds of stories that are part of their daily information diet.
"What stood out was how often participants pointed to clickbait-style headlines and sensationalised reporting from mainstream outlets as misleading. Their trust in news is being eroded not only by falsehoods, but by how news is packaged and delivered."
Across the 1564 pieces of content submitted, 322 were identified by participants as false, misleading or untrustworthy. Text-based content, especially headlines viewed on social media, made up more than two-thirds of these examples. Many participants described feeling "baited" into reading stories that didn't match their headlines.
Co-author Professor Michael Dezuanni, from the QUT School of Communication and Digital Media Research Centre
