“FAKE NEWS IN THE ONLINE WORLD: PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT OF

FAKE NEWS IN GRADE 11 GAS STUDENTS IN

LUCIANO MILLAN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL ”

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

With technology advances, utilization of different social media platforms has become a

trend. Thus, media mass users have also become irresponsible on the proper way of using it, they

exploited and used social media platforms specifically Facebook as an avenue to disseminate

counterfeited news. In today’s generation wherein, teenagers are subjected to a lot of information

they come across online and because of its deceiving quality, teenagers are easily encouraged to

believe with what they hear and see without double checking its credibility resulting in an

increase of their social anxiety which affects their psychological wellness.

Meanwhile, the term fake news can sometimes be confusing. Fake news refers to

completely false information that kind of perpetrates rumors. These are the kind of information

that spreads on various media avenues with the pure intent of deceiving and confusing people.

Moreover, fake news is not just a fabricated story or news report that is presented from a biased

perspective. It could be viewed as fictitious that provides information to either intimidate or seek

people’s attention (Chrysalis, 2019). In addition, with the increasing amount of exposed
information on the internet, upon which everybody can post anything, the evaluation of

credibility and trustworthiness becomes difficult. Among all social media users, teenagers are

considered the primary victim of counterfeited news. According to study teenagers spent

majority of their time scrolling on Facebook newsfeed, they spent approximately 2-3 hours in

daily activity on Facebook and because of that they are most likely to read fake news articles on

Facebook which convinced them to believe even without fact checking first (Veins,2019).

The fake news about Covid-19 vaccines which rolled out recently on the different social

media platforms could be the epitome for this phenomenon where five alleged victims died in

Tarlac after getting vaccinated against Covid-19. This claim was from the families of the alleged

victims, one of the family of the alleged victim stated "If people from the barangay or city health

office with vaccines do the rounds, don’t get yourself injected. It’s dangerous, 5 people here in

Tarlac already died from it. They only got injected 9 am today and they are nowhere to be seen

now! Please pass this on so other people would know. #CORONAVIRUS". This claim was

posted on Facebook as early as Sunday, August 9. The chain message also circulated on

messaging apps. However, according to Philippine Information Agency (PIA) and Tarlac City

Information this claim was unverified and completely fake news, they both denied the claims.

Moreover, the first coronavirus vaccine was announced on Tuesday, August 11 – two days after

the chain message circulated (Rappler, 2020)

It can be observed how fake news emerged on a large scale and invaded people’s

psychological aspects. One of the responses is fear among teenagers who do not usually mind

fact checking about a certain news they read online. Teenagers disclose their reaction towards

fake news through posting it on Facebook. For instance, the issue about the five alleged victims

who died after getting vaccinated against Covid-19, because teenagers are the majority users of
Facebook they are most likely to get victimized with Fake news. The Fake news caused undue

public alarm and panic among teenagers. Consequently, right after hearing the news teenagers

are somewhat discouraged themselves from getting vaccinated too.

After reading several conducted researches regarding fake news (Melin,2018: Pesonen, 2018:

Kiernan, 2017). The researchers observed that there is a dearth of research on the psychological

impact of fake news among teenagers. Thus, the researchers aim to fill this gap and make an

extended study about the impact of fake news to the psychological aspect among teenagers who

happen to read fake news. This research also seeks to help the teenagers know the proper way of

addressing counterfeited news.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

In the current social setting teenagers came out to be the majority victim of fake news. Thus, the

researchers conducted this study to know if there is a psychological impact of fake news among

teenagers of Grade 11 GAS Students in Luciano Millan National High School.

This study aims to answer the following questions:

1. What are the psychological impacts of fake news among Grade 11 GAS Students in Luciano

Millan National High School?

2. Why are the teenagers the primary victim of fake news?

3. How do teenagers address counterfeited news?

a. What are the primary actions they do?

The study will focus on explaining the psychological impact of fake news among the teenagers

of Grade 11 GAS Students in Luciano Millan National High School. This study would help the

teenagers know how to properly address counterfeited news they read online and raise awareness

to not easily believe certain news without fact checking. Moreover, this study would serve as a

guide among the teenagers on how to become a responsible user of social media. The results of

the study will be beneficial among the following;

The teenagers, this study would help the teenagers become observant whenever they encounter

fake news and not easily get swayed by a certain news they watch/read online. Also, the

teenagers will be given proper guidance on how to handle fake news.

Parents, the result of the study will help the parents raise their awareness towards their

children’s psychological well-being. They are asked to encourage their children to minimize

their social media engagement. This study would also help the parents in terms of giving proper

guidance to their children.

Teachers, the findings of this study will help the teachers give proper care and guidance among

their students. This would also help them better understand their students who are experiencing

this kind of situation.

Future Researchers, the findings of this study could provide a basis for further research on fake

news. This will serve as an existing body of knowledge to future study related to the

psychological impact of fake news among teenagers.

This study focused on the impact of fake news on the psychological aspect among teenagers in

Grade 11 GAS Students in Luciano Millan National High School. This will be conducted at

Luciano Millan National High School. We will be collecting data through a survey; our

respondents will be the Grade 11 GAS Students. The result of this study is only applicable to the

respondents and should not be used as a measure of other research conducted relation to the

Psychological impact of fake news among teenagers. This is not applicable for the students who

do not belong to the population of this study.

1.5 Definition of Terms

Fake News - Fake news is information that is incorrect or misleading and is presented as news.

It is frequently used to harm a person's or entity's reputation or to profit from advertising income.

Misinformation- The term "misinformation" refers to information that is erroneous, inaccurate,

or deceptive. False rumors, gossip, and the misapplication of facts are examples of

disinformation.

Social Media- Websites and programs that emphasize on communication, community-based

input, engagement, content-sharing, and collaboration are referred to as social media. Globally,

social media has a huge following. These platforms are easily accessible thanks to mobile

applications. Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are just a few instances of generic social

networking platforms.
1.6 Theoretical Framework

Psychological Cognitive

The underlying basis of the cognitive approach on how individuals store information in

the brain in the form of schemas. This theory represents the way in which people identify objects

in their environment by labeling them, which then allows the objects to be categorized. Cognitive

psychology originated with the work of experimental psychologists in Germany such as Wilhelm

Wundt in the mid nineteenth century and focuses on understanding how internal processes affect

an individual’s ability to interact with others. The internal processes most studied in this

perspective are cognitive (memory, perception, and decision making) and physiological

(chemical and neural activity). Each approach examines a different aspect of how interactions are

affected by these internal processes. The use of this theory allows individuals to process billions

of bits of information from the environment, which then enables them to easily engage in

interactions. The more accurate individuals’ understanding of any given social situation, as

determined by how well they label and categorized it based on information from the

environment, the more successful and easier will be the interaction. The cognitive and

psychological approaches in this perspective explore different aspects of the impact of schemas

on interactions.

This theory could be related to the study of psychological impact of fake news among teenagers

as it expounded that the way people perceive or processes an information could affect their

ability to interact or experiences through social media. Comprehending the information is

necessary for engaging in successful interactions. However, it can be observed that only those

with higher cognitive ability put fact checking into consideration.