ABSTRACT
The “fake news” phenomenon is not limited to texts but can encapsulate the visual multimedia as well. In this regard, visual online disinformation is an emergent issue that demands to be addressed by researchers through an interdisciplinary and people-centred approach. This approach can take the shape of digital role-playing games, used as learning and training environments. The European YouVerify! project developed a serious game called “BotBusters” to help young people develop the know-how to comprehend the difference between genuine and manipulated images and videos, in a digital interactive scenario, with authentic news. This game could be played as a stand-alone, but most importantly it was embedded in the MOOC “Disinformation Step by Step”.
This chapter aimed to illustrate the process of designing the serious game and understanding the user behaviour through in-game data. We expected that this gamified intervention would increase the level of user engagement with the educational content and would facilitate the practical use of the InVID-WeVerify plugin for visual disinformation. The findings provided a better understanding of how young users reflected on fake news and which was the best methodology to motivate them to move from a simple opinion to constant and thorough verification.
