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Andrew M. Guess & Benjamin A. Lyons

social media gatekeepers to drive trafﬁc, this does not necessarily mean that
people are clamoring for a continuous stream of fake news. It potentially means,
however, that, within a multifaceted information environment with streams of
news and other distractions, misinformation – often designed to be vivid and
compelling – can often command people’s limited attention (and therefore
clicks). That the contours and incentives of social media ranking algorithms
can change drastically and without warning is well known, as the once-mighty
clickbait purveyors Upworthy and Demand Media discovered. Yet, within any
given regime, it appears that producers of misinformation, disinformation, and
fake news were able to tailor content to maximize engagement and, with it,
online advertising revenue.
Social_Media_and_Democracy