2017 Ruled By Fake News, What Should We Expect in 2018? – Sochin Limited

There was a huge surge of fake news and disinformation campaigns in 2017. There was a reported 365% increase in the word’s usage since 2016 and the Collins Dictionary appointed ‘fake news’ as its Word of the Year.

According to a report compiled by Noah Miller of Sochin Limited, fake news is not going away anytime soon and experts warn that fake news and disinformation could get worse in 2018.

In 2017, it was realized that social media does not do a good job in separating fact from fiction compared to the traditional media. This could mean an onus for the traditional media to debunk disinformation and restore public trust going forward.

Some readers have already shown signs of news fatigue in 2017; this could grow next year.

Expect more media literacy initiatives to come in 2018. This will link people with teaching experience to: a) experts on the current information environment, and b) people that most closely model target competencies such as fact checkers.

It is widely predicted that 2018 might see the development of a large-scale automated response to online misinformation. A number of developers across the globe have already begun looking at the possibilities of acquiring such technologies which probably will impact news consumption habits.

In 2018, it is expected that consumers will be given more tools to customize their news feeds. Users will be able to subscribe to filters and trusted curators which overlay onto the standard feed-filtering algorithms.