False messages in scientific publics using the example of Russian social network Vkontakte

Abstract

Information and communication technologies form, in different ways, the modern person’s world picture. Despite huge educational possibilities of the Internet, the information flowing to the person through most commonly used channels, like social networks, can not be described as completely representing real facts. This problem is well considered in terms of policy, but the reliability or inaccuracy of the scientific information in social networks is studied little. This paper analyzes the degree of reliability of scientific facts contained in Russian social network VKontakte. The results show that more than half of messages (57 %) in publics called scientific do not contain scientific information, and 32.4 % of the others contain not completely true information. The inaccuracy degree can vary considerably. It is possible to distinguish its following types: Inaccuracies, Exaggerations, Incomplete information, False attribution, Representing creative works as real, Gross errors in actual understanding. The analysis of false facts in scientific public shows that more often the facts are misrepresented to surprise, for the sake of this, numerical indicators are exaggerated, information partially disappears or misrepresented to look exclusive. There is an interesting trend of using "photoproofs" mismatching the text in time, place or general understanding, or just shots from films or works of art (in particular, digital art).