Fake news awareness, trust, and social media usage in the age of disinformation: Insights from a mixed-methods study

Social media has become a primary channel for news consumption, yet the role of fake news awareness in shaping users’ trust orientations, platform preferences, and news-seeking behaviors remains underexplored in non-Western contexts. This study examines how fake news awareness relates to social media news trust, and news follow-up frequency and intention in Türkiye, a context characterized by high social media penetration and declining institutional media trust. A convergent mixed-methods design combined a cross-sectional survey (n = 541) with semi-structured qualitative interviews (n = 16). Cluster analysis identified two distinct groups: high- and moderate-awareness users. High-awareness users demonstrated significantly greater disinformation sensitivity and verification intentions, and lower trust in individual news sources. Qualitative findings revealed that awareness level was associated with distinct verification strategies, source evaluation practices, and responses to disinformation. Higher-awareness participants described systematic, multi-source verification routines, while more moderate-awareness participants adopted more heuristic, speed-oriented approaches. These findings underscore that fake news awareness shapes not only cognitive orientations but also behavioral patterns and platform choices. The results carry practical implications for media literacy interventions tailored to the behavioral and platform-specific dimensions of news consumption.