Do fake news catch our attention? A study of visual attention applied to the consumption of fake news about COVID-19 in Brazil.

Abstract

The development of technologies aimed at people’s daily communication allows for greater access to information. However, much of this content is the result of disinformation campaigns. Despite efforts to combat fake news, how people read content to identify false messages and make decisions is still not well understood. This study aims to use eye-tracking technology to identify and understand differences in the reading patterns of fake news and real/authentic news sources. Therefore, an experiment was conducted with 23 participants, who had their ocular behavior data measured while watching two types of content in the Brazilian scenario: real news and artificially produced news (fake news). The main results suggest differences and similarities in the way that people read and pay attention to content elements, such as headlines, main text, images, and news sources. The importance of using eye tracking in new studies aimed at combating disinformation is verified.