Modern technologies, especially social networks, contribute to the rapid evolution and spread of fake news. Although the creation of fake news is a serious issue, it is the believability of fake news and subsequent actions that produce negative outcomes that can be harmful to individuals and society. Prior research has focused primarily on the role of confirmation bias in explaining the believability of fake news, but other biases are likely. In this research, we use theories of truth and a taxonomy of 10 cognitive biases to conduct an exploratory, qualitative survey of social media users. Five cognitive biases (herd, framing, overconfidence, confirmation, and anchoring) emerge as the most influential. We then propose a Cognitive Bias Mitigation Model of methods that could reduce the believability of fake news. The mitigation methods are grouped according to three themes as they relate to the five biases.

The success of social networking sites relies on members’ continuous use. We replicate a study evaluating the relationship of continued-use intention to the success of social networking sites to determine whether the results obtained with a US sample can be generalized to the South Korean context. Using two culturally distinct samples, we demonstrate limitations to the generalizability of the original study’s findings and important constructs influencing continued-use intention across cultural boundaries.

Intentions of continued technology use are often viewed as a stable construct assuming little-to-no variance across temporal distance. However, psychological research and declining social network memberships suggest this assumption may not be correct. We use latent-curve modeling to examine near- versus distant-future intentions to use information communication technologies. Our findings suggest that continued-use models that include the psychological construct of temporal distance fit the model better than those that assume a simpler view of time.

Social networking site (SNS) use decisions have led to major economic and social transformations worldwide. While many organizations seek to use SNSs from a strategic perspective to reach their customer, it is important to understand what makes SNSs successful in order to use them for competitive purposes. The current research evaluates the influence of the social capital theory on SNS success measures. A model was developed and empirically tested using two data samples to ensure valid and reliable results for success of SNSs. The results display the importance of social capital in SNS success followed by practitioner and academic implications.