Curbing Online Disinformation
Abstract
According to research done by Pew Research Centre, six in ten Americans on average get their news from social media accounts (Wortham, 2016). This accounts for 62% of the total population. It, therefore, means that the vulnerability of the Americans to disinformation is much higher considering everybody’s tendency to look for news updates in social media, even in the event of breaking news. Most of the information found in these sites are inaccurate because most of the people in the media chasing clout. These people are more concerned about the number of clicks they receive and would go as far as sharing fake news to draw attention to themselves. It is therefore very important that we look for ways as individuals to combat the spread of fake news in the media platforms. The essay consequently proposes methods such as identifying one’s algorithms, re-educating ourselves new site consumption, scrutiny, and avoiding sharing as some of the key methods for cutting the spread of misinformation.
Combatting the Spread of Misinformation
The first method of preventing misinformation is becoming aware of our algorithms. The information that we see online is mainly as a result of our online activities, that is, what we focus on most of the time, and what we share with our followers. While this information is available to the online marketers and advertisers, it can be manipulated by other sources for their benefit. An example is persons that seek to drive more traffic to their accounts. Learning about our activities online can consequently help us anticipate when fake news comes our way.
Reeducating Ourselves on Reliable Sites Consumption
Understanding our online behavior should then be followed by re-educating ourselves on getting information from more reputable sources online. If we develop consistency in getting our news from verified sources then the high profile news that we encounter will most probably be from these sources. Social media such as Twitter and Facebook have become the most popular sites in the spread of misinformation (Frenkel, Alba & Zhong, 2020). Twitter for example has been faced with the challenge of getting the wrong information retweeted to an uncontrollable number of people. Hurricane Irma and the shooting of Las Vegas are examples of incidences that proved how viral the spread of disinformation can be (Qiu, 2017). Even popular sites such as the Google Search algorithm were found out to disseminate wrong information at the time. Acquaintance with the right sources will, therefore, reduce our vulnerability to disinformation.
Scrutinizing New Sources
The information gotten from social media should be investigated more critically. The consumers should be sensitive to the provider of the news, for example. Is it a journalist reporting in the background of the scene? A stander by, or a speculator. If this is not done, then the audience may be more likely to pass across information to the two-thirds of Americans who always seek new information through the media. We should develop a critical eye to the timeliness of the news reported by looking for the publication date. It has become a common habit for people to share images from the past or Photoshops to support some misleading information. Furthermore, we should also develop the habit of comparing the news we get from one source to the news we get in another. When breaking news occurs, the media houses are always quick to arrive at the scene to give the viewers an important news update. Waiting for the information from these trusted sources and compare them with other sources reveals the consistency of information.
Avoid Sharing. Training ourselves not to share until we affirm the accuracy of what we want to share is one basic skill towards cutting the spread of misinformation. We should perceive all information as inaccurate until it is proven right. If the information has no citations then it is probably from an anonymous source, immediately rendering it unreliable. Additionally, if the information appears to be too sensational or too extreme then the stakes that it is are high, and one should refrain from sharing such information. Sometimes we may be taken over by the gossip, but we should be aware of the consequences of our unethical actions-mostly panic and defamation.
Conclusion
Finally, disinformation is spreading a lot of negative energy among people. In the event of the current pandemic, for example, there has been quite a chunk of wrong information aimed at raising panic and misleading people into how they can prevent or cure the disease (Frenkel, Alba & Zhong, 2020). Being a very new experience, some people already have it engrained in their brain of how they can evade the disease, which is mostly wrong. It should be brought to our attention the consequences of misinformation because, until we know the adversities of it, we will continue to perceive it not a big deal.