Abstract
The spread of misinformation on the internet can provoke social disputes, normalize prejudice, and cause bias in social perceptions toward distinct social groups. In Israel’s already deeply divided society, exposure to misinformation could aggravate the existing polarization between populations, such as the ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) and the general population in Israel. Furthermore, as the ability to detect misinformation is related to knowledge and digital literacy, the Haredi population in Israel, which is characterized by low digital literacy compared to the general population, may be more vulnerable to the influence of misinformation.The aim of this study was to examine and compare the ability to detect misinformation between Haredi and non-Haredi Jews, while examining the relationship between misinformation detection and digital literacy and knowledge. Haredi and non-HarediJewish subjects (N=83) were asked to read various online news articles and to evaluate their credibility. Using eye tracking technology, we examined participants’ scan patterns of the web pages, and their manner of reading the items and the accompanying information, as a measure of the users' attention to areas presenting information about the news (metadata); we also examined the extent of their success in identifyingfalse messages. The findings show that Haredi participants were less successful in identifying false messages than non-Haredi participants. They were also less attentive to informative areas on the web page that signify message authenticity (i.e., metadata). However, when combining other predictors in a multivariate regression, belonging to the Haredi population became a non-significant predictor, and digital knowledge and the degree of activity on social networks were found to be significant and strong predictors of success in identifying false messages.With regard to digital literacy, it was found that while in a subjective assessment of participant degree of digital literacy, no differences were found between Haredi and non-Haredi participants, in practice – in psycho-physiological behavioral indices, that is, the manner of reading the news and dwelling on the metadata areas, as well as on the digital knowledge index – there was a significant gap between the populations to the advantage of the non-Haredi participants.The paper discusses the theoretical implications of the findings, alongside practical recommendations
Translated title of the contribution | Misinformation Identification in Haredi Society: An Eye-Tracking Study of Web Page Scanning as a Manifestation of Digital Literacy |
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Original language | Hebrew |
Pages (from-to) | 130-157 |
Number of pages | 28 |
Journal | קשר |
Volume | 60 |
State | Published - 2023 |
IHP Publications
- ihp
- Computer literacy
- Disinformation
- Fraud
- Mass media
- Truthfulness and falsehood
- Ultra-Orthodox Jews