How to Navigate the Age of Misinformation
Growing up I used to hear a lot of adults say “don't believe everything you see on the internet.” In the short span of a little over a decade, this phrase has essentially lost all of its weight.
If I am curious about something, I google it, when I am studying and I need help, I google it, when I hear about something happening in the news, I google it. Gone are the days of finding everything in books, and all the news on television or in the newspaper. Today, all you need is a phone and cell service or wifi to get access to a seemingly never ending excess of information.
However, the pool of information has blurred the lines between what is real and what is fake. I don't believe everything I read on the internet, and neither should you. But, we all know that we are still going to use the internet so here are a few things to keep in the back of your mind whenever you are online.
The most important thing to think about when reading or consuming media online is motive. There are many different motives and some can be bad and some can be good. However, understanding the motive can give context to the information the authors are providing. I think the most complex motive people have is money. People can write about something they are passionate about and can write about it for money. But people also can write about something just for the money.
When someone is writing about something just for the money, specifically in the field of science as that is what this blog is based on, the easiest place to tell is in the title. For instance an article titled, “Climate Change Will Destroy the World in the Next Two Years” is most likely written for a financial motive, as it is obviously not true and it is very radical in nature. Articles that have titles like this often spend the introduction walking the title back or spending the brunt of the article talking about the topic with no evidence. In a world where there is so much online, it is inevitable that people create a radical title with false phrases that are simply designed to get you to click on their article instead of someone else's piece. Of course, not all articles with crazy titles are bad. However, anytime you are reading something with an insane title, always stay skeptical and look for if they actually cite evidence.
There are many other motives to keep in context. For example, if someone is trying to grow their site, or if someone is trying to inform. Whatever the motive, always figure it out, as understanding if something is written with good or bad intentions can help determine its reliability.
Another important thing to keep in mind is perspective. Anytime I am reading something online, I always find out what the author's perspective is. For example, I am a high school student who is writing an amateur blog on physics and science in general. When reading my articles, understand that the extent of my knowledge and understanding is limited. Additionally, the pieces I write are meant to offer my (a high school student’s) perspective on new and noteworthy science related topics. Doing a quick Google search on the author can offer a lot, as finding out if the author has credentials, and to what extent, can give or take away meaning from what they say.
The final thing to remember is the echo chamber. The echo chamber is something people mainly find themselves in on social media. To clarify what an echo chamber is, it is important to understand more about social media motives. Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and many more platforms are all competing for your time. They want you to keep scrolling, swiping, and consuming content from their platform. Not only are you consuming advertisements that the platform gets paid for, you are giving them data. This data helps their algorithms predict what you like and what you will read or consume. These algorithms will then provide you with content that you want to see and will not provide you content that you don't want to see. In other words, they filter what you view without your discretion.
I think the best example of this is politics. If you are a Democrat, you will be recommended to CNN and other news outlets with similar sources. However, if you are a Republican, you will be recommended to Fox and other similar sources. Both of these news channels have very different views and report on very different things that align with their views. This means that the only content you will consume is from one side of the political sector. This is an example of the echo chamber–that being you–will only recommend what you will like or what you will watch.
The end effect of this is that you won’t hear any perspectives from the other side. Although this example uses politics, echo chambers can be for anything. The scary part of the echo chamber is that you will be given content that aligns with you and what you will consume. This does not mean that what you are consuming is backed up by anything factual. It is in these echo chambers that misinformation spreads, which is why you have to stay vigilant.
The internet has good information on it. All you have to do is sleuth out which of it is bad and good. Always look at the motive and perspective, and stay vigilant in the echo chambers that you will eventually be in–which are not by your choice.
Most importantly? Apply the traits of a scientist as you gather and digest information and news. Research multiple sources. Find good data. Be curious. Always be skeptical.
