An integrated Pythagorean fuzzy CRITIC RAPS approach for evaluation of factors influencing news dissemination on new media platforms

The emergence of new media platforms has changed the news distribution process greatly due to their rapid expansion. The uncertainty, vagueness, and interdependence of criteria, though, have caused the problem of evaluating the factors that influence the spread of news to become a complex multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem. Such ambiguity can often not be managed with traditional decision-making approaches. In order to overcome this shortcoming, this paper recommends a hybrid Pythagorean fuzzy set (PFS) system by integrating the CRITIC (Criteria Importance through Inter-criteria Correlation) weighting framework and RAPS (Ranking Alternatives by Perimeter similarity) ranking order in the assessment and prioritization of news dissemination variables in new media settings. The CRITIC technique is utilized to identify the weights of objective criteria on the basis of contrast intensity and the inter-criteria correlation, whereas the RAPS technique is utilized to rank the alternatives with the help of the perimeter-based similarity technique. The Pythagorean Fuzzy (PF) environment improves the model in regard to handling uncertainty and indecisiveness in expert judgments. To illustrate the relevance of the proposed model in a real-world case study, a major digital platform case study is carried out. Moreover, the comparison analysis proves the strength, discrimination, and ranking stability of the framework relative to the current PF-based MCDM procedures. The findings show that the developed PF-CRITIC-RAPS framework would be used as a credible, objective, and analytically consistent decision tool to assess the process of news distribution within the context of complex digital platforms.