Two fifths of people surveyed stopped using a social media platform due to an abundance of fake news.
More than half of Irish people say that they struggle to tell the difference between real news and fake news.
The statistic was published in Deloitte Ireland’s latest Digital Consumer Trends report.
The report is based on an annual survey of 1,000 people in Ireland aged between 18 and 75, which asks them about their attitudes towards technology and how they use it.
87% of people have access to at least one connected device, with 94% of those people owning a smartphone.
29% of all respondents look at their phone more than 50 times every day, with 12% looking more than 100 times a day.
This number greatly increases in the 18-24 age category, with 37% of people in this age group looking more than 50 times a day, and 21% checking more than 100 times.
76% of respondents said they used social media and instant messaging apps on a daily basis across all devices.
However, over two-fifths of people in Ireland said they had stopped using at least one social media platform, either temporarily or permanently, in the last year.
The top reasons cited were boredom with content, an abundance of fake news, and content being too negative.
5% of those who left social media said that they were harassed or bullied on the platforms.
85% of respondents said that fake news is a major problem today, with 74% of those saying they rely on multiple sources to get a full picture with news and information.
65% of people felt that news from traditional providers was reliable, compared to just 16% of people who can trust news from social media platforms.
“With a massive 85% of all respondents believing that fake news is a major problem – and 57% feeling that it is difficult to tell the difference between fake news and real news – the recent announcement that a new Media Commission is to be established and a national Online Safety Commissioner appointed, is very timely,” said Daryl Hanberry, Partner and Head of the Technology, Media and Telecommunications Industry Group at Deloitte.
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