Why read fake stories online?

Why do people fall prey to fake news stories? Can't they just tell when they come across them? Having such easy access to real facts and fact-checkers surely takes care of the problem, right? Unfortunately, part of the reason that fake news is such a problem is that people do fall for these stories, and being shown the facts doesn’t help correct this problem. This isn’t a matter of gullibility. It’s due to a feature of human thinking called cognitive biases. Cognitive biases are detours or shortcuts in reasoning, remembering, or evaluating something that can lead to mistaken conclusions. They’re universal. Everyone has them. Why do people have cognitive biases? Normally, these mental shortcuts make our lives easier. You don't need to re-learn your path from home to work or school every day, become it’s so ingrained in your mind that you can follow it without thinking.