Just imagine…

You’re a young adult in the United States; it’s election year, and for the first time, you get to vote. You aren’t sure you can trust main-stream media. After all, it isn’t just middle-aged and older adults who distrust the media. According to a survey done by SKEMA Business School, young adults also share a deep, widespread distrust in traditional media. You begin researching and following different social media pages so that you can be kept up to date with all things that could impact your voting decisions. At first, this is really exciting. 

However, as time goes on, you start to realize that not everything is adding up. There is some entertaining information, some conflicting information, and some information that is incredibly concerning. You aren’t sure what to believe.

Through the magic of social media algorithms, you begin to notice a shift in the content you are seeing. Everything makes sense, and you agree with almost everything that’s in your feed. This makes you feel good. You start sharing posts from people you know and trust without researching the content. You are starting to feel incredibly confident in your beliefs, and you can’t imagine how anyone else could believe in anything else. You’ve found your place in the political world, you are comfortable in the social media community, and you have become more active in sharing and commenting.

And then someone comments on a post you shared. They have included facts from trusted sources that dispel the theory that you wholeheartedly believe. As it turns out, you’ve been caught in a whirlwind of conspiracy theories, and your bubble just burst. Your world starts crashing down. You are overcome with emotion.

You’re not alone.

According to a 2017 analysis of government survey data by University of Oxford and University of Liverpool researchers, more than a quarter of the American population believes there are conspiracies “behind many things in the world.”

I thought I was so smart…

how did this happen?

Social media plays a significant role in getting conspiracy theories in front of people who might be susceptible to them.

Beliefs in conspiracy theories and misinformation, while often lacking a factual basis, can lead to various detrimental real-world outcomes, including a lack of trust in media and governmental bodies and the instigation of violent or extremist actions.

Social media plays a detrimental role in the spread of conspiracy theories because people are able to surround themselves and confirm their beliefs without opposition in a sort of echo chamber. This can be dangerous, as this approval encourages the spread of misinformation among an audience with shared beliefs. Many believe that social media algorithms compound societal issues by tailoring content to users’ preferences.

This infographic outlines the four stages of how conspiracy theories can escalate on social media. It’s important to familiarize yourself with this information to help prevent yourself from getting caught up in the conspiracy theory black hole.

According to Science Daily, “previous research has shown that people gravitate toward conspiracy theories that affirm or validate their political views.” There is no data to specify a political party being more easily influenced by conspiracy theories, but people are influenced based on their existing beliefs and emotions. We don’t base all our beliefs and opinions on flawless reasoning and exhaustive research. This explains why about half of the American public consistently endorses at least one conspiracy theory.

Knowledge is power!

The Brookings Institution found that “YouTube’s recommendation algorithm does not lead the vast majority of users down extremist rabbit holes, although it does push users into increasingly narrow ideological ranges of content in what we might call evidence of a (very) mild ideological echo chamber.” Being aware of this type of behavior is an important step in identifying and learning to avoid the conspiracy theory rabbit hole.

As a young adult navigating an election year in the United States, it’s crucial to recognize the tactics employed to lure you into believing conspiracy theories. While it may not be feasible to extensively research every piece of information you encounter, becoming familiar with the insights shared here can empower you to identify and resist conspiracy theories more effectively. By honing your critical thinking skills and staying vigilant against manipulation tactics, you can safeguard yourself from being ensnared by misinformation during this critical period.

Instagram (Meta)

Instagram, or Meta, works to fight the spread of misinformation using third-party fact-checkers that are certified through the non-partisan International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN).

“We don’t think a private company like Meta should be deciding what’s true or false, which is exactly why we have a global network of fact-checking partners who independently review and rate potential misinformation across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.”

Instagram utilizes a combination of feedback from users as well as technology to determine what needs to be sent to fact-checkers.

As a user, once a post has been flagged, Instagram gives users the option to decide for themselves what to read, trust, and share. A post flagged for containing misinformation will still be accessible, but the image will be blurred out and have a text overlay stating that false information has been identified. Users then have the option to see why it has been flagged, as well as the option to view the post anyway.

On the back end, Instagram reduces the post’s distribution by removing it from Explore and hashtag pages. It also communicates with Facebook and will automatically label identical content across platforms.

They also offer quite a few built-in tools that can be turned on or off in each account depending on a user’s preference. In my personal experience, these tools are enabled by Instagram without the user’s knowledge. While I find it important for a company to take action regarding the spread of misinformation on their site, as a user, I find it annoying to be restricted access to content without my knowing it is being done.

In an effort to prevent repeat offenders from spreading misinformation, user accounts that repeatedly post misinformation will be restricted in various ways. Users may get a warning when trying to tag or share information from flagged accounts. The accounts will also be made more difficult to find. In extreme circumstances, when an account goes against community guidelines, it will be disabled entirely.

Overall, I think Instagram does a fairly good job of implementing tools that can help limit the spread of misinformation. The only thing I would change would be in regard to the filters they automatically enable in the app. As a user, I want to be made aware of any filters that automatically restrict my access to content. If Instagram were more transparent with the filters they enable, it would help increase the public’s trust in the platform.

X, formerly Twitter

The social media platform X, formerly Twitter is an interesting social media platform to research because it has gone completely against the grain. Since Elon Musk‘s takeover of X, the company has gotten rid of content moderation teams, which is unheard of in any online space. While the goal was to provide users with the ability to access and share all information without restriction, bad actors are showing that this may not have been a good move for X.

According to European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova, “X had the “largest ratio of mis/disinformation posts” among the platforms that submitted reports to the EU.” (Sept. 2023)

X has shifted to a new model where you can pay for verification of your account. While this may seem like a good idea because a user has verified they are a real person, this does not mean they are sharing reliable information, as proven by NewsGuard.

“Utilizing a combination of human and artificial intelligence, NewsGuard reviewed the top 250 posts on X containing misinformation that received the most likes, reposts, replies and bookmarks since the start of the conflict on Oct. 7. The analysis found that 186 accounts of the 250, 74 percent, had been verified.”

They have also launched engagement-based revenue sharing. The changes that have been made to the company since Musk’s takeover have led to a flood of misinformation on the site. 

I do not personally use X. My Twitter account was hacked years ago, and I was never able to regain access. With all of the drama surrounding the platform, I was never tempted to sign up again. After reviewing the large amount of misinformation being spread on the platform, it does not appeal to me in the least. If I were going to change anything about Twitter, it would be to regain trust of it’s users. I would put efforts into banning bot accounts and removing the paywall for verified users.

There is a stark difference between each of these companies approaches to preventing the spread of misinformation. While it is not required, I think there is a lot of value in companies taking responsibility for providing reliable and true content to users. Sometimes the filters and warnings can get annoying, but I would much rather be notified that something may be wrong and do my own research than be bombarded with misinformation that is being spread with malice.

As we scroll through social media, we oftentimes read headlines and take them at face value without doing any additional digging. It’s become common practice not to fact-check information beyond our first impression of it. “A survey of 1,492 American adults in 2014 found that 58% did not watch, read, or hear any news beyond the headlines in the previous week.”

However, when we only read headlines, we can be misled, whether intentionally or not. As mentioned by Full Fact, “often something important goes missing, or they [journalists] end up saying something else by mistake.”

This can cause a lot of confusion and misinformation. That is why it is always best to do your own research to confirm the claims you see. One method of doing this is called SIFT.

SIFT stands for stop, investigate, find, and trace.

How do you use SIFT?

Let’s use this article from Facebook to walk through the steps of SIFT.

The post starts with an attention-grabbing caption: “Can this save hockey in the desert?”

The article headline reads: “Arizona Coyotes release details of proposed entertainment district near Scottsdale.”

For any NHL Coyotes fans. in Arizona, this will get your attention due to the team’s inability to secure a home stadium for the past two years.

At this point, we will want to stop and see who is making this claim. Do we trust them?

Arizona’s Family is a reputable news source in the valley; however, for this exercise, we will assume we do not know who they are. What do we do next?

We want to investigate who the source, Arizona Family, is. With a quick search, we can find their “About” page on their website. They provide a statement outlining who they are, who they serve, and who they are owned by.

Through further research, we find that Gray Media Group is a publicly traded media company that was founded in 1946 and they currently own or operate 180 stations across the U.S.

This seems like a solid source for news; let’s move on to the next step.

Now we want to find additional sources reporting on this story. To do this, I did a quick search of “Coyotes propose arena Scottsdale“. The search brings up multiple well-known sites, as well as some less familiar sites covering the same story.

I found the variations in headlines interesting. A lot of the other outlets provided headlines that stated more factual information in their titles. This was encouraging when researching the validity of the original claim, and I ended up learning more information from the additional coverage I reviewed. This leads us to the final step.

In the final step, we want to trace the information back to the original source, which in this case is the Arizona Coyotes themselves. On their website, they released a very detailed announcement of their plans. While the Arizona Family article did not have as much factual information as the original source, it did prove to be a true claim.

In this instance, I thought the initial post was playing on emotions a little and possibly trying to get clicks. By the end, I could see that they had played to emotion in their original post, but the claim they made was in fact correct and from a reputable source.

There are many instances where this process would uncover misinformation. As we head into a political season, it will be especially important for people to strengthen their media literacy and ability to fact-check information so as not to be misled.

Through the SIFT process, we are able to identify a source’s legitimacy and do our own fact-checking to see if a claim being made is true. This is a good practice to get into before taking a headline as fact or allowing ourselves to be misled by bad actors.

4:30am
My cellphone alarm goes off. I blindly tap on my phone screen until it stops making noise.

4:35am
My snooze period has ended, and my cell phone alarm goes off again. This time I pick up my phone, turn the alarm off, and set the phone back down.

4:55am
I get in my car and connect Apple Car Play. I open Spotify and put on my morning workout mix. I listen to “Superman” by Eminem on my drive to the gym down the road.

5:00am
I put headphones in and continue listening to my Spotify playlist while I walk into the gym.

5:01am
I pick the treadmill I want to use. It has a full view of ten different television sets, all with various channels displayed. I hit speed three and max incline and start my morning wakeup routine.

5:02am
Ignoring all of the television sets, I finally turn sleep mode off on my phone and get to work, catching up on every social media app I have on my phone. I start with Instagram. My boyfriend has sent me ten different reels to watch. I scroll through them, replying as necessary. Most of them are recipes that he wants to try to cook with me. One or two are entertaining reels of jokes. Instagram algorithms have not quite figured out what I like, so I do not spend too much time on this app. 

5:07am
I briefly switched to Facebook only to find that my account has been restricted for trying to tag myself in a photo. Another short-lived app experience.

5:09am
I open my email app. I quickly select all of the spam messages and mass delete them. There are a couple of emails from my daughter’s school that I read and forward to her dad to review.

5:11am
I look up at the television sets for the first time. There is one news station reporting on Trump stating he’s raised a large amount of money. One television has HGTV on it. Another television has a report showing what appears to be some sort of violent uprising, but the headline is unclear. I quickly lose interest and go back to my phone.

5:12am
I open TikTok. I start my mind-numbing scroll-a-thon. My TikTok feed has a variety of videos showcasing motivational messages, recipes, places to travel, and “remember in the 90’s when…”

5:55am
I stop scrolling and wipe down my treadmill. My Spotify playlist is back on, and I head home. Once home, I get my daughter ready for school, feed the animals, pick up a little, and sign on for work. My work computer consumes the majority of my day.

11:30am
On my breaks from work, I squeeze in some Mind Hunter on Netflix (I am so close to finishing; I watch it whenever I have some free time now).

3:00pm
I sign off of work and check my phone again. I have a couple of texts from parents at my daughter’s school. I open them and reply.

3:10pm
I open up Instagram and see an announcement from Kate Middleton.
She has cancer. I close the app.

3:25pm
It’s time to pick my daughter up from school. I get in my car, open Apple Car Play, and open Audible. I listen to “The Covenant of Water” while I drive to my daughter’s school.

3:50pm
My daughter gets in the car, and I open Spotify again. This time, I select my daughter’s playlist, which plays the remainder of the time we are in the car.

4:30pm
I decide I want to try making empanadas. I watch a couple of videos I took of my friend teaching me a couple of days earlier and get to work.

6:30pm
It’s Friday evening, and my family and I sit down for dinner. No phones, tablets, or televisions are allowed during our family dinners. We talk about our days.

8:00pm
I get ready to sit down for family movie night. Tonight is my daughter’s pick, and we are watching the new Willy Wonka movie.

While tracking my media usage throughout the day, I realized that I do not subject myself to a large amount of media that requires fact-checking. I do not put a lot of trust in mainstream media, so I tend to ignore news that I see from them. If there does happen to be something worth giving my attention to on the television sets in the morning, I will watch the various news channels broadcasting their own views and try to pick out the pertinent information, or look it up online to see what is credible.
I use social media as a form of entertainment throughout the day rather than a source of truth. Over the years, I’ve found that it can be very addicting, and I make it a point to limit my intake. I set screen time limits on my phone and adhere to them. In a world that thrives on so much media use, I am probably in the minority of media consumption, even though I feel like I am constantly on my phone or exposed to different forms of media every day.
A majority of the news that I hear about is sent directly to me by people that I know. When someone does send me a link, I try to read or watch the entire report, and then I try to find another source reporting the same thing to pick out any bias or misinformation that might be present. I think it is incredibly important to be media-literate. I prefer to fact-check everything that is sent to me to ensure that I have the correct information so that I can form my own opinions and speak confidently in conversation.