International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

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Age Differences: Fake News Sharing among East Coast People during COVID-19 Pandemic

Open access

Raja Nurul Hafizah binti Raja Ismail, Nur Aulia Fahada binti Misaridin, Wan Nur Ainna Waheda binti Rozali, Wan Hashridz Rizal bin Wan Abu Bakar

Pages 1565-1569 Received: 13 Nov, 2022 Revised: 15 Dec, 2022 Published Online: 16 Jan, 2023

http://dx.doi.org/10.46886/IJARBSS/v13-i1/10337
The spreading of coronavirus (COVID-19) around the world has affected society in many ways. Because of this, fake news sharing is rapidly shared among society by using social media. This situation has made chaos in society as they basically believe on news that has been shared on media. This research aims to identify the age differences that affected the dissemination of fake news on the East Coast of Malaysia during COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional survey design was conducted on 130 respondents (N=130) from Pahang State by using probability sampling method. Questionnaires that based on Users and Gratification Theory which adapted from Apuke & Omar (2020) was used in this study and the researchers undergone for descriptive data analysis, consists of two sections (demographic and variables - altruism, instant news sharing, socialization, entertainment, self-promotion, and fake news sharing. As result, respondent who are in the range age of 18 -24 years showed highest participation in this research (41.5%) as compared to other age range. From all the variables tested, altruism showed the highest impact mean for all ages. Recommendation for future study suggest inferential analysis should be conducted to generalize the data. Data collection method and respondent also should be tested in other states within Malaysia.
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