Why there’s so much disinformation out there now, and how you can combat it; WTOP, October 12, 2024

John Domen, WTOP;  Why there’s so much disinformation out there now, and how you can combat it

"Most people, regardless of their political leaning, will acknowledge social media has become especially riddled with things that just aren’t true, especially in the world of politics where allegations follow candidates from all parties. So the supposed eyewitness coming to you from a disaster zone, or the supposed political insider, should probably be treated with some skepticism.

“When you see content that’s particularly disturbing or makes you very angry, a thing to keep in mind there is maybe making you angry was the point,” said Buntain. “This may not necessarily be legitimate content. It might be. It’s certainly plausible that it might be.”

“But when you start to see content that makes you angry, that tends to decrease your ability to do other things or think rationally about some of this content. Then you start to amplify it. Then you start to engage with it,” he added.

Triggering that response is often the real goal of social media algorithms. But if someone you know has been fooled, how do you convince them of that?

Because, as the saying goes, it can be harder to convince someone they’ve been fooled than it is to actually fool someone. But in some cases, at least deep down, truth might not be the real reason they’re re-sharing content that’s made up.

“They’re sharing it because it had some emotional resonance with them,” said Buntain. “And by just telling them that they … shared bad content, you’re sort of minimizing or ignoring the sort of emotional aspect that got them there, and then that’s not a good recipe for civil engagement around a particular topic.”"