by Joelle Steele
In today’s world we are faced with what many experts are calling an “infodemic,” an unprecedented amount of false and misleading information that is adversely affecting the ability of many people to form rational opinions and make sensible and sane decisions because they can’t easily distinguish between fact and fiction, truth and lies. Social media has become a great wasteland of rumors, conspiracy theories, fake news, fraudulent scams, hoaxes, and propaganda.
It’s easy to come across all kinds of second-hand information and uninformed opinions. I have run into many people who spew out all kinds of anti-this and anti-that hearsay opinions when they have zero first-hand information or factual evidence to offer about the subject. In many cases, those people tend to believe what they hear from those they believe to be credible sources. Their good friend Josh posts or shares something and so they believe it must be true. Despite being literate people, they simply believe Josh and don’t bother to check the facts for themselves. His opinion reflects their beliefs and that’s good enough for them. This most often happens because in many cases the facts are simply far more complicated than the blurb on a social media post. Here’s an example of just how complicated those facts can be:
Years ago, my friend Mark overheard an Apple employee on the phone saying that Microsoft stole the pull-down menu system from Apple. As a dedicated Apple user, Mark believed this and bad-mouthed Microsoft for years, until I explained to him how copyright works and what the courts uncovered in years of litigation in Apple Computer, Inc. vs. Microsoft Corp. (1992).
This lawsuit hinged on several elements of the Apple interface and Microsoft’s Windows interface. The pull-down menu was just one small aspect of the interface, and that was part of the problem: Not everything can be protected by copyright, in particular an idea or a concept composed of many smaller or lesser ideas and concepts. In the instance of this particular lawsuit, despite the best efforts of Apple designers, there were aspects of their interface that simply defied the criteria that intellectual property requires to be copyright protectable. And, some of those same aspects used by both Apple and Microsoft, including the pull-down menu, had already been in use previously by Xerox in their Star Information System. In other words, they weren’t Apple’s or Microsoft’s to copyright in the first place. Also mentioned in the lawsuit was the use of a mouse by Apple and also by Microsoft. Again, the mouse was not invented by Apple or Microsoft. In fact, its earliest incarnation was waaaaaay back in 1946 when the roller ball was invented and used with computers by the military.
It took me two hours of reading legal transcripts to reduce it down to what I just wrote in the last paragraph. But here’s how you can learn to distinguish fact from fiction in the information you encounter every day on social media. We’ll start by defining two similar but very different forms of the most common types of inaccurate information:
Misinformation. This is false information that is spread, without intent to mislead, but rather because we hear something, misinterpret it, or simply forget the details. This misinformation can spread like wildfire in social media where it’s shared with others, sometimes being repeatedly altered by the recipients who add something to it or share it outside of its original context. Most misinformation is hearsay or misinterpretation that’s never been fact-checked. It spreads by word of mouth when you tell someone about the misinformation you saw, heard, or read about, and you unintentionally pass it along. Most misinformation is ridiculously benign, such as a post titled “Mermaids spotted off the coast of Santa Barbara,” accompanied by a Photoshopped image of mermaids on a beach or swimming in the water. But, misinformation can also be cruel and malicious when an unconfirmed rumor – again, hearsay – is spread and hurts someone.
Disinformation. This is also false information, sometimes called anti-information. But unlike misinformation, it is spread deliberately, with intent, to mislead, misguide, or deceive others into believing something which, if fact-checked, is very easily proven to be untrue. Disinformation is biased, consists of manipulated facts, and is essentially negative and even sensationalized propaganda. It can be spread to serve the purpose of a government, a politician, a business, or an individual, and in most cases, it is destructive and even dangerous. Disinformation is most easily recognized because it is almost always set within an “us” versus “them” context. In recent years, disinformation has been the propaganda playground of politicians throughout the United States.
And here’s another thing to consider that can, but does not always, fall into the categories of misinformation or disinformation:
Opinion. What you think and what you believe is the basis for your opinions. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but opinions do not necessarily reflect whether what you believe has any merit as far as the truth or factual information is concerned. It is simply what you think and believe. Period. However, learning to distinguish opinion from fact or from misinformation or disinformation is important. Opinions are most often expressed in social media comments in response to a post, and some are just a bunch of adults calling each other names and acting like bratty kids. Many page administrators turn off these kinds of comments, especially when the opinions go too far afield from the original topic of the post. Opinions can usually be recognized because they are most often of the “agree” or “disagree” variety. But some can sound like a person is stating a fact: “He’s a wife-beater,” or “She embezzled the funds,” or “They take advantage of their employees,” or “Their cars are death machines,” etc. Opinions found in comment sections often lack any verifiable facts to back them up.
As you can see, not every social media post that looks like the truth is the truth. So, please don’t be lazy and irresponsible by sending or sharing misinformation, disinformation, or opinions about anyone or anything unless you have some hard facts to back them up. Only you can clean up social media.