UNIT 6: SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE INTERNET
My name‿ is Rose. Two years‿ ago I circulated‿ a story about‿ a celebrity that was wholly fabricated,│ and‿ it was believed by my friends│ because‿ I had sent‿ it. That‿ is how misinformation‿ operates:│ it travels through trus(t) rather than through evidence.
The mechanism‿ is not mysterious. Fabricated stories‿ are more‿ entertaining than‿ accurate‿ ones,│ so they are shared faster,│ and‿ algorithmic‿ amplification rewards whatever produces‿ engagement‿ irrespective‿ of‿ its credibility. Corrections‿ are dull│ and‿ arrive late,│ an(d) the asymmetry is structural rather than‿ accidental. I was not‿ a victim‿ of manipulation;│ I was briefly complicit‿ in‿ it,│ an(d) the correction‿ I laterla-der posted reached‿ a fraction‿ of the original‿ audience,│ which‿ is‿ exactly what the research predicts.
What‿ I now verify is‿ unglamorous:│ the credibility of the source,│ the intention‿ of the headline,│ an(d) the date,│ which‿ is│ where most‿ errors lie. What concerns me is that most‿ adults were never taught this,│ while their children‿ are being taught‿ it‿ at school. Media literacy is the only defence that scales,│ because fact-checking‿ organisations cannot conceivably keep pace with the volume. If‿ a story makes you feel‿ instantly certain,│ that certainty is the appropriate first‿ object‿ of suspicion. The difficulty is that misinformation polarises mos(t) successfully precisely│ where the will to discern‿ it‿ is weakest.