•Social media platforms make it easy to spread rumors for a variety of reasons.
•The efficacy of spreading rumors on social media is potentially dangerous as it influences people’s thoughts and actions.
•It is possible to monitor rumors on social media and shut them down promptly.

The term “fake news” has become common nowadays. It is essentially just another term for rumor as the goal is always the same – to spread false news. It is a growing problem considering the power of information in this day and age.

Several cases have already proven the destructive capability of rumors on social media. In India, for example, Facebook has been used to spread rumors that often end in lynching and mob justice. In the U.S., rumors on social media have been used to settle political scores on the national stage. In extreme cases, rumors may cause extreme paranoia in the masses and fuel devastating mass actions and even revolutions. In a scholarly report titled Towards Detecting Rumors in Social Media, the authors warn, “The spread of false rumors during emergencies can jeopardize the well-being of citizens…”

The main issue when it comes to the spread of rumors on social media is our ability to stop them. Social media leaders such as Facebook and Twitter have come out with pledges to fight rumors several times, but the problem still lingers. Many scholars and researchers have offered suggestions too. The most ideal solution would come in the form of algorithms that would automatically scan for rumors and shut them down. A lot of data and analytics will be needed for this, as evidenced in the report titled Detection and Resolution of Rumors in Social Media: A Survey.

Facebook and Twitter are the most prone to the spread of rumors. Twitter, however, has a better track record compared to Facebook. Both of these companies already have running algorithms designed to detect rumors and fake accounts, but Twitter goes a step further – outsourcing the task to twitter users. According to Poynter, a fact-checking research database, many Twitter users debunk rumors by posting counter-messages. This is not the case with most Facebook users who either ignore rumors or go along with them, thus aiding in their spread.

Rumors will persist on social media platforms until the main parties come up with solutions. Until then, it is everyone’s responsibility to recognize rumors and debunk them.