You may not be familiar with the terms “misinformation” or “disinformation” but you most likely have encountered it. Disinformation is the term that refers to the creation of false or misleading content. Many of us think it’s due to the Russians or other nations trying to hack our elections but disinformation content is also created here in the United States for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it’s for political influence, sometimes it is for-profit and sometimes the content is created to gain likes, clicks, and influence on social media.
Misinformation happens when people share the disinformation or false content, usually without knowing the content is false. People often share misinformation because they are trying to help or to warn others.
So how do you know? Here are some quick things you can do
1- Who’s the source? Is the information you’re seeing or hearing about coming from a trusted source. Additionally, find out where the information originated. If you can’t or don’t have time to learn more about the origin of the information it’s best not to share it.
2. What’s the real story? If you’re scrolling social media take a second to click and read the story. Sometimes the headline can be misleading or the link will take you to a site that will raise your suspicions. Again don’t have time to read the story or something seems off it’s best not to share it.
3. Find out when? On social media, there are a lot of old news stories showing up on our news feed. Check the date on news articles.
4. Were you triggered or did your emotions change? Disinformation is designed to trigger your emotions in some way. Usually, it’s used to cause division, outrage, and anger. Sometimes is used to make you feel hopeless or depressed. If you are realizing that you feel like you need to warn people or share out of emotions you may be looking at disinformation. Use some of the other tips to see if you can figure out if the information is true or do a quick search for a fact-check or debunk to your what you’re seeing.
5. Beware of memes– Memes are a quick and common way to disseminate misinformation. Memes usually elicit an emotional response, which can include laughter. It is also hard to determine the origin of a meme or the original motivation of the person, or agency creating it.
While many memes can be jokes or created to get shares or likes, The visual imagery and the messaging from memes often take root and become topics of conversation, thus continuing the spread.
Want to learn more?
-
Sign up for the free text message course from First Draft. First Draft is a global nonprofit
-
How to Spot (and Fight) Election Misinformation from ProPublica