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Cited by 11Misinformation and Its ImpactsSocial Media and PoliticsEducational Strategies and Epistemologies

Scottish citizens’ perceptions of the credibility of online political “facts” in the “fake news” era: An exploratory study

Open access
Baxter, Graeme, Marcella, Rita, Walicka, Agnieszka·2019·Journal of Documentation
DOI 10.1108/jd-10-2018-0161
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Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a study that explored public perceptions of the credibility of “facts and figures” contained within five social media posts produced by political parties in Scotland. Design/methodology/approach: The study consisted of an online survey conducted in Spring 2017 (n=538). Respondents were asked to gauge the reliability of “facts” contained within the posts, to provide reasons for their answers, and to indicate how they might go about confirming or debunking the figures. Findings: Less than half the sample believed the posts’ content would be reliable. Credibility perceptions were influenced by various factors, including: a lack of cited sources; concerns about bias or spin; a lack of detail, definitions or contextual information; personal political allegiance and trust; negative campaign techniques; personal experience of policy issues; and more intuitive judgements. Only small numbers admitted that they would not know how to find out more about the issues or would be disinclined to look further. The majority appeared confident in their own abilities to find further information, yet were vague in describing their search strategies. Originality/value: Relatively little empirical research has been conducted exploring the perceived credibility of political or government information online. It is believed that this is the first such study to have specifically investigated the Scottish political arena.

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Crossref · 10.1108/jd-10-2018-0161

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53 of 53 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • Prior experiences with and attitudes towards the trustee are essential antecedents of trust in information found on social media.

    “People's prior experiences with and attitudes towards the trustee infuence their perceptions of that trustee and have been shown to be essential antecedents of trust in information found on social media [5,31,32,40,122].”

    From What Do We Mean When We Talk about Trust in Social Media? A Systematic Review (2023) · cites this paper as [5]

  • Presenting information alongside the URL of the original source significantly increases people's trust in that information.

    “In a number of studies, transparency has involved presenting information alongside the URL of the original source, which signifcantly increased people's trust in that information [5,13,24,25,40,109].”

    From What Do We Mean When We Talk about Trust in Social Media? A Systematic Review (2023) · cites this paper as [5]

  • Personal political ideology or political affiliation influences trust in information from social media.

    “Results from two studies suggest that personal political ideology or political afliation infuences participants' trust in information from social media [5,53].”

    From What Do We Mean When We Talk about Trust in Social Media? A Systematic Review (2023) · cites this paper as [5]

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Authors
Baxter, G., Marcella, R., & Walicka, A.
Affiliations
  • Robert Gordon University (GB)
  • Aberdeenshire Council (GB)
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Documentation
Publisher
Emerald
Published
2019-09-09
Volume
75
Issue
5
Pages
1100-1123
ISSN
0022-0418 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1108/jd-10-2018-0161
OpenAlex
W2944128573
Cited by
11
References
57
Citations by year
2025: 1 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 3 · 2019: 1
FWCI
3.02
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Journal of Documentation (publishedVersion)
  • Open Access Institutional Repository at Robert Gordon University (Robert Gordon University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Misinformation and Its Impacts
  • Social Sciences › Communication › Social Media and Politics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Educational Strategies and Epistemologies
Keywords
perceived credibility, fake news, political facts, social media posts, political parties, source evaluation, information seeking, public trust in government, Scottish politics, online political information

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