Most disinformation takes one of four forms:

• Pure disinformation is stories that have been entirely fabricated to lure traffic, get clicks (i.e., clickbait), and gain profit using intriguing, but deceptive, information that is often sensationalized.
• Hoax sites are websites that present and share false information with the intent of tricking readers and viewers. These websites are often the hosts of pure "fake news" stories. 
• Satirical websites and videos present news in a comical or exaggerated way. While satire is not inherently "fake news," it can be particularly misleading when removed from its original context and end up being circulated as disinformation.
• Born digital images and edited images are images that have been created or manipulated to misrepresent visual reality, such as images of signs or posters that have been edited to say something other than what they originally said. If you come across an image online you suspect may have been doctored or edited in some way, the best way to investigate and debunk it is through a reverse image search.

source: Eastern Michigan University

Disinformation is created intentionally, but what is the motivation for doing so.

Here are five broad categories that incentivize the creation of disinformation.

• Financial gain. A person or group creates disinformation to make money off the number of clicks, shares, or views on their post or website. This revenue is usually gained through advertisements on the web page. 
• To increase influence and gain more followers/interaction. A person or group creates or shares disinformation to bolster their status on social media through more engagement with their posts. 
• To create mischief. A person or group creates or shares disinformation because they enjoy tricking and deceiving others. 
• To enforce political and/or social divisions. A person or group creates or shares disinformation because they wish to cause or further deepen rifts between two or more political and/or social groups. 
• To undermine trust.  A person or group creates or shares disinformation because they wish to plant seeds of doubt and mistrust in a public figure, political movement, company, etc. 

Human behaviors and motivations can be hard to predict.  Sometimes people innocently spread bad or sensational information because they genuinely want it to be true, without fact-checking or questioning the content.

source: Eastern Michigan University