Mass. Professor's List Of False, Misleading News Sites Goes Viral

There has been a lot of talk of fake news — nonfactual, misleading and sometimes hateful commentary — being shared through social media during this election cycle.

While tech giants Google, Facebook and Twitter are recognizing that it's a problem and are considering what to do about it, Melissa Zimdars already has done something. The professor at Merrimack College in North Andover has come up with a list of fake news sites that are shared on Facebook in hopes of helping others stop the spread of misinformation.

Melissa Zimdars, assistant professor of communication at Merrimack College. She tweets @mishmz.

Hiawatha Bray, technology writer for the business section of The Boston Globe. He tweets @GlobeTechLab.