Why Study Disinformation?

Before looking into how falsehoods spread online, it is important to note why an examination of this issue is critical.  The full extent of Russian interference—or, as Jamieson (2018) called it, Russia’s “cyberwar”—remains challenging to determine with precision.  However, what is certain is that there is a receptive audience for fake news online.  According to Gottfried and Shearer (2016), 62% of adults in the United States get their news from social media.  Even if a few thousand people in key swing states like Wisconsin or Michigan had been influenced by fake news before voting, it could have been enough to sway the 2016 presidential election.  In Michigan, Trump’s margin over Clinton was 10,704 votes (Jamieson, 2018).  Ahead of the 2020 presidential election, voters must be aware that what they see online may not be accurate.  Instead, it may be an attempt to manipulate them to vote or think a certain way.  

This project will pull together and synthesize the techniques that communication on social media helps sway voters during presidential campaigns.  To quote Shakespeare, “What’s past is prologue” (Shakespeare, n.d., p. 71).