There's never been more talk of "Fake News" then there is now. Donald Trump, the current President of the United States, popularized the term, but it's actually been around forever. Even in ancient times, rulers like Ramses the Great, for example, spread lies and propaganda. Ramses portrayed the Battle of Kadesh as a glorious victory for the Egyptians, but the battle was actually a stalemate.
Our society has, undoubtedly, changed since then, but some things will forever remain the same. The tendency of the ruling class to spread propaganda and fake news stories will always be there, as will the public's hunger for sensationalism, violence, blood and, most of all, entertainment.
Fake news in the 21st century
We are a society of data consumers. We are constantly exposed to enormous amounts of information. According to a study conducted at the University of California-San Diego, the average person consumes around 34 GB of information per day - this is enough to overload most modern laptops.
In the words of American psychiatrist, Edward Hallowell, as published on tech21century.com: "We have now a generation of people who spend many hours in front of a computer monitor or a cell phone...busy in processing the information received from all directions Most of this information is superficial. People are sacrificing the depth and feeling."
Our brains are overloaded with information and that is why it's incredibly difficult to differentiate between real and fake news.
No one has the time to conduct proper research, we are multitasking and getting information from various channels, simultaneously.
New media and social networks
Every major news outlet has profiles on pretty much every major social media network, with millions of followers, but bloggers, niche websites and pretty much everyone else publishing something online has a social media presence.
We are talking about millions of people and billions of gigabytes of information.
These platforms and the information that spreads on them can never be fully controlled. This is why these websites have become the breeding ground for spammers, as well as government and corporation shills, who's job is to spread propaganda and fake news stories.
Human psychology shouldn't be taken out of the equation either - we are inclined to stick to our group alliances and seek out news that align with our attitudes and political alliances. This is why fake news will never die.
