Promoting prevention to fake news through an educational software

Abstract

This paper discusses the development of an educational system that aims to train individuals to recognize false information. The application includes a news analysis module, which highlights information that can help the user read a news story. To do this, the users simply needs to enter the link to the news they wish to analyze. In addition, the system also contains a training module, in which real examples of news stories to be analyzed by users are shown. For each news example, the user must state whether they believe the information to be true or false. The design of the product is theoretically anchored in lateral reading and inoculation theory. The tool was validated in two phases. The first involved 26 participants from different age groups and showed positive acceptance of the software, especially in terms of efficiency and attractiveness. The second phase of validation was aimed specifically at the elderly and had 16 responses, which indicated a deterioration in the user experience for this type of audience, prompting the need to enhance the application with more instructional and accessibility elements.