Social Media and Fake News in the Post-Truth Era

The purpose of the research is to identify the components of fake news on social media in Iran. Identifying fake news and misinformation on social media which causes a kind of semantic entanglement is important. In this qualitative research, data were collected in the field with semi-structured interviews. The statistic population consisted of experts and experts in the field of social communication, media and news, and the sampling method was purposeful, which is non-probability. to reach theoretical saturation 29 interviews were conducted and the data were analyzed using MAXQDA 10 software. With the method of theme analysis, 4 main themes and 36 organized themes along with basic themes were identified as propositions raised in the interviews. The most important organized themes were: in the difference between fake news and real information: the extent of news coverage, lack of constructive effect, being biased, simulated, creating psychological warfare and credibility of the source, in the similarity of fake news with real information: similar effectiveness, news value, style news and time stability, in the goals of spreading fake news: creating a social movement, deceiving the public mind, media tension, directing public opinion, hybrid atmosphere and spreading ambiguity, and in the consequences of consuming fake news: creating a sense of pessimism, discrediting government institutions, credibility Searching for celebrities, eliminating managerial elites, suggestibility, social desperation and hasty decision-making.