My Support Forums - View Single Post - How are you all dealing with coronavirus and the restrictions... #2

SprinkL3 · Jan 10, 2022 at 02:48 AM

Here's info on how to avoid spreading misinformation: 7 ways to avoid becoming a misinformation superspreader

Anyone can fall victim to accidentally spreading misinformation when they share something they think is true, or they misinterpret something and then share that misinterpretation.

Here are 7 ways to avoid accidentally spreading misinformation:

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1. Educate yourself. ...One strategy is called “prebunking” – a type of debunking that happens before you hear myths and lies. Research has shown that familiarizing yourself with the tricks of the disinformation trade can help you recognize false stories when you encounter them, making you less susceptible to those tricks.

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2. Recognize your vulnerabilities. The prebunking approach works for people across the political spectrum, but it turns out that people who underestimate their biases are actually more vulnerable to being misled than people who acknowledge their biases.

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3. Consider the source. Media outlets have a range of biases. The Media Bias Chart describes which outlets are most and least partisan as well as how reliable they are at reporting facts.

You can play an online game called “Fakey” to see how susceptible you are to different ways news is presented online.

When consuming news, make sure you know how trustworthy the source is – or whether it’s not trustworthy at all. Double-check stories from other sources with low biases and high fact ratings to find out who – and what – you can actually trust, rather than just what your gut tells you.

Also, be aware that some disinformation agents make fake sites that look like real news sources – so make sure you’re conscious of which site you are actually visiting. Engaging in this level of thinking about your own thinking has been shown to improve your ability to tell fact from fiction.

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4. Take a pause. ...Before you decide to share something, take a moment to remind yourself of the value you place on truth and accuracy.

Thinking “is what I am sharing true?” can help you stop the spread of misinformation and will encourage you to look beyond the headline and potentially fact-check before sharing.

Even if you don’t think specifically about accuracy, just taking a pause before sharing can give you a chance for your mind to catch up with your emotions. Ask yourself whether you really want to share it, and if so, why. Think about what the potential consequences of sharing it might be.

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5. Be aware of your emotions. People often share things because of their gut reactions, rather than the conclusions of critical thinking. In a recent study, researchers found that people who viewed their social media feed while in an emotional mindset were significantly more likely to share misinformation than those who went in with a more rational state of mind.

Anger and anxiety, in particular, make people more vulnerable to falling for misinformation.

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6. If you see something, say something. Stand up to misinformation publicly. It may feel uncomfortable to challenge your friends online, especially if you fear conflict. The person to whom you respond with a link to a Snopes post or other fact-checking site may not appreciate being called out.

But evidence shows that explicitly critiquing the specific reasoning in the post and providing counterevidence like a link about how it is fake is an effective technique.

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7. If you see someone else stand up, stand with them. If you see someone else has posted that a story is false, don’t say “well, they beat me to it so I don’t need to.” When more people chime in on a post as being false, it signals that sharing misinformation is frowned upon by the group more generally.

I inherently stand by #6, especially when engaging online. If I see something, I will say something. I do this as a form of protection to both the public and the publisher of information. It's not meant as an attack, but rather as a guidance to alert us to how vulnerable we all are - myself included - which can stem from not being used to this time and era when even the slightest flaw in communication could be harmful when others misunderstand that information. Being more clear about what is being said will help dispel any intentions of spreading accidental harm.