The Puzzle of Misinformation: Exposure to Unreliable Content is Higher among the Better Informed

Abstract

Most research on misinformation has focused on its prevalence and individual correlates of engagement. However, we know less about broader patterns of news-seeking behavior and whether people exposed consume unreliable content at the expense of reliable sources. This question is important because the effects of misinformation are likely to differ if unreliable content is the main source of news rather than part of a diverse news diet. We address this question using an observational panel tracking the browsing behavior of N ~ 140,000 individuals in the US for a period of twelve months (January to December of 2018). We show that about 1% of all panelists (N ~ 1,400) visit at least 100 unreliable news pages during our observation period. We also show that panelists exposed to misinformation consume more reliable news and have news diets with higher ideological diversity. We discuss the theoretical implications of these findings.

Keywords: information disorders; media environment; news ecosystems; news exposure; web data.