As we approach the tail-end of election season, everything election-related is ramping up. Television ads, radio spots, pundits breaking down the latest polls, and more. This time of year, everywhere you go there's something to do with the election.
And that just as easily includes the internet, too. Whether you're getting stories recommended to you in a feed, or you see your friends and family sharing posts on their social media pages, the internet is ready to burst with election-related content too.
Unfortunately, a sizeable amount of that election information found online is misleading, deceiving, and simply untrue. There's many stories, posts, and articles circulating online that were created with the intent to spread misinformation and misinform voters.
Some of these are easier to spot than others, and while not all of them were created with malintent, many are the product of deliberate and coordinated campaigns designed to create division under the veil of legitimate news outlets.
In this newsletter, we're going to break down four key issues relating to election misinformation, particularly those found online, and what you can do to stay on top of things and not get caught in the riptide of misinformation.
Don’t Use Social Media as a News Source
Another pitfall of social media news consumption is that many of us fall for sensationalized, emotionally charged headlines. Compelled to action by what we're reading, we often reshare these stories to our feeds where others, in turn, do the same.
Sensationalized headlines and stories are meant to hook into your emotions and shut off the part of your brain that analyzes and exercises critical thinking. Unfortunately these headlines stem from websites and outlets that are willing to do anything to draw clicks to their sites, due to associated revenue models and financial incentives.
These headlines are designed to ignite something within you emotionally and get you to spread the story without thinking twice. Question the rationale involved, and take a step back whenever you read a headline that gives you such a reaction.
Most of these stories come from unreliable sources (bloggers with no expertise, uncredited sources), and can skew the perspective of a real event, inject opinionated language so you think about the story a certain way, and sometimes just make things up.
These kinds of "clickbait" articles also often leave out key parts and perspectives of a story. And that's only if the article is based on a real event; sometimes you may come across articles and stories that are entirely made up.
Self-awareness is a vital key to recognizing clickbait and not falling victim to its intentions. Learn to recognize your emotions and emotional responses to the content you consume, in an effort to catch yourself before you fall into the trap of reading sensationalized articles and stories, and spreading them to your family and friends too.
Don’t Fall for Sensationalized Headlines
Another pitfall of social media news consumption is that many of us fall for sensationalized, emotionally charged headlines. Compelled to action by what we're reading, we often reshare these stories to our feeds where others, in turn, do the same.
Sensationalized headlines and stories are meant to hook into your emotions and shut off the part of your brain that analyzes and exercises critical thinking. Unfortunately these headlines stem from websites and outlets that are willing to do anything to draw clicks to their sites, due to associated revenue models and financial incentives.
These headlines are designed to ignite something within you emotionally and get you to spread the story without thinking twice. Question the rationale involved, and take a step back whenever you read a headline that gives you such a reaction.
Most of these stories come from unreliable sources (bloggers with no expertise, uncredited sources), and can skew the perspective of a real event, inject opinionated language so you think about the story a certain way, and sometimes just make things up.
These kinds of "clickbait" articles also often leave out key parts and perspectives of a story. And that's only if the article is based on a real event; sometimes you may come across articles and stories that are entirely made up.
Self-awareness is a vital key to recognizing clickbait and not falling victim to its intentions. Learn to recognize your emotions and emotional responses to the content you consume, in an effort to catch yourself before you fall into the trap of reading sensationalized articles and stories, and spreading them to your family and friends too.
Don’t Rely on Generative AI for Facts
We're living in an age where generative AI, heavily deployed on search engines, is still very much a work in progress. While a few of these issues will become outdated as AI advances, the main takeaway doesn't change: never consider AI as a source of truth. It should only serve as a launching point, and even then, you need to be approaching it with caution.
In 2024, generative AI tends to hallucinate and make up information. It can be hard to catch because of how confidently it’ll be presented, which is why it's important to get into the practice of double-checking the facts that AI presents to you.
But the most important reason why you shouldn't rely on AI is because of what we can't see, and what can best be described as looking at what's under the hood. As the general public, we don't have access to the code and models that generative AI is trained on. We also don't know the directives and motives that AI chatbots and AI-powered search engines have been given.
While we might interact with these services in good faith, believing they're presenting us information that's objective and factual, there could just as easily be something behind the scenes functioning in a manner that is similar to an algorithm trying to tailor content for you.
Leveraging social media feeds and curated search engines is a quick way to get pigeon-holed into only seeing information that these sources think you want to see, instead of getting the entire picture.
Consume News from Multiple Sources
Find multiple reliable sources for your news. News aggregators compile headlines from every online news outlet and will allow you to compare coverage of the same story across the political spectrum. Services like these are effective in giving you the overall picture of a story and limiting the amount of one-sided, clickbait articles that you consume.
The important part here is to choose a couple sources to compare that are spread across the political spectrum. You don't want to choose too many outlets that are similar to each other, otherwise you'll end up limiting yourself just like an algorithm or a feed.
Even if you have your personal opinions about one particular side or another, it's important to see how stories and news are being reported from all sides. That way, you're minimizing the amount of information that passes you by.
Put It All Together and Stay Informed on the Election
There's lots to do and plenty of places to be during summertime, so the frenzy to buy tickets and book hotel rooms can be a mad dash, and your find yourself booking appointments without a second thought.
Unfortunately, scammers are preying on exactly that. They’re hoping people are looking for the best deals, and rushing through their reservations without a second thought.
Ensure your plans are safe by slowing down and looking for the signs of summertime scams when you’re buying tickets and booking hotel reservations. That way you can enjoy your summer down by the beach, and not out on the street.
References
1. “Social Media and News Fact Shee…” Pew Research Center. September 2024
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