As we leave 2021 behind and look forward to 2022, I can’t help but think about how these last 2 years have been a doozy. Actually the last 5 years if we’re counting the Trump presidency and seriously, how could we not? The Trump years re-introduced a level of misinformation that this country hasn’t seen in recent history since the Red Scare McCarthy era of the 1950s which was way before I was born. Propaganda is not a new thing.
And it’s not hyperbole to say that these last few years has been crazy town. Successful foreign disinformation campaigns to cheat elections, misinformation surrounding COVID, lying and weaponizing Critical Race Theory, lies about “massive voter fraud” and “stolen elections” DEEP FAKES online… and I’m not even beginning to scratch the surface all of the deception that’s been running rampant here lately. It’s like we’re currently living in an era where you have to NOT believe something is real before you can actually believe it.
There’s also a tendency to want to minimize the damaging effects of misinformation as some people seem to believe that it’s not as devastating and ruinous as we’ve all witnessed that it is these last few years. For example, misinformation and disinformation was at the center of a recent U.S. election being “won” (2016) Disinformation about “stolen elections” was at the center of the violent insurrection on the U.S. Capitol (January 2020). The massive number of COVID deaths just here in the U.S. can probably be directly attributed to lies about the virus as well as lies about vaccines. So trivializing the effects of misinformation has already proven to be corrupting, harmful and unfortunately in many cases, deadly.
Believing things just because you see it on tv or read it on the Internet is also not the move. The media has been involved in fake journalism for longer than some people may realize because “fake news” is as old as American journalism itself. And “trust but verify” feels overly optimistic in 2021 heading into 2022 for me. Speaking for myself, I just feel I need to VERIFY something before I trust that it’s the truth. Especially reading something online or watching something on the news. Especially right now.
Lying and “spinning” has become so pervasive, that it will have you side eyeing everything you watch or read, especially if you’re a natural critical thinker. And technology is enabling lies to be spread faster and farther than ever before.
But! This post isn’t all doom and gloom and OMG! Everything is a lie! Which is why I wanted to leave you with a few critical thinking tips so that you’re not just believing things that are untrue or unknowingly passing along misinformation. And this is by no means meant to be an exhaustive listing of critical thinking research, just some things to look for when attempting to verify the information that you’re taking in. These are some of the same tips I use.
The headline does not contain the whole story of the thing, especially in this age of clickbait titles. You’re going to get more information, true or not, inside of the actual content of an article than in just the headline.
Check to see who is saying the thing. Are they credible? Also check where the source of the thing came from. Is it reputable?
Is it a satire website? In the recent past, it has been common on social sites to see people share things from parody sites thinking that a thing was real. Especially since satire usually sits right on the threshold of something that’s true.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve personally seen people unknowingly post a years old celebrity death like it just happened. Or they’ll post an old news article about a thing that happened when there is more current updated info.
Listen, we have to help each other navigate this wild new 21st century misinformation landscape, so thank you for checking out this post. If you would like to dive a little deeper on fighting misinformation and disinformation for yourself, I posted a few books that are available below to expand your knowledge further if you’d like to check them out.
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