"Political Bias and Impulsive Behavior Open Door to Misinformation"

A new peer-reviewed study from researchers at MIT and the UK’s Exeter University has been recently conducted and began by identifying 842 random Twitter users who displayed partisan bias towards the Republican or Democratic Party.  The researchers then created Eight bot accounts with varying degrees of partisanship to follow the group.  The researchers concluded that, no matter the strength of partisanship displayed by the bots and no matter whether Democrat or Republican, Twitter users were almost three times more likely to follow back someone with the same political affiliation as their own.  The researchers claimed that previous research had shown conservatives to be more likely to create social ties with those of their political persuasion than liberals, a finding seemingly contradicted by this study.  The researchers suggest for more critical thinking and media literacy classes be taught in schools to help individuals determine what is real information and misinformation.

Infosecurity reports: "Political Bias and Impulsive Behavior Open Door to Misinformation"