We live in an era where people are greatly influenced by information on digital media. With technology growing at panther pace, it becomes difficult to gauge the authenticity of information. The world today is facing the biggest crisis as people across the world are dealing more with fake news than the authentic ones. According to researchers from Princeton University and New York University, people on social networking site- Facebook, who are over 65 years of age, are more likely to share fake news on the platform as compared to the liberal and younger people. WhatsApp Fights Fake News: Facebook Owned Messenger App Launches Video Ad Campaign 'Share Joy, Not Rumours'. 

The researchers analysed Facebook posts of nearly 1,200 people who agreed to share their data in the aftermath of the 2016 US Presidential Election. According to a report by India Times, the research report says that older people and conservatives lack the level of digital media literacy which determines the trustworthiness of news encountered online. The report further added saying that ideologically, conservatives shared the most fake news stories. Facebook Hoax Message! Do Not Type Gratula to Confirm Your Account’s Security, It Is As Fake As BFF Was. 

According to the research, less than only 8.5 per cent of respondents shared a link from one of these websites. The report states that those that did tend to be older and self-identified are on the conservative end. The research found that users over 65-year of age, shared nearly seven times as many articles from fake news domains. "No other demographic characteristic seems to have a consistent effect on sharing fake news," the authors reported.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 11, 2019 12:31 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).