Besides games, you can learn more about how the internet and social media platforms operate. This will give you a better understanding of the tools available to those who want to manipulate you. You can also learn more about the standards of scientific research and evidence which can help you better resist lies and misleading statements about health and scientific issues.
2.Recognize your vulnerabilities
The preemptive refutation approach works on people across the political spectrum. However, people who underestimate their bias are more vulnerable to being misled than people who are aware that they are biased (that they are taking a side).
Research shows that people are more vulnerable to misinformation that is in parallel with their existing opinions. This is called “confirmation bias” because a person tends to believe information which confirms their own beliefs.
What we need to learn here is to be particularly critical of information that comes from groups or people with whom you agree or whom you feel close to (in terms of commonalities such as political, religious, ethnicity or nationality). Don’t forget to research other perspectives and other sources on the topic.
It is also very important to be honest with yourself about what your biases are. Many people assume that other people than them are indeed biased, and that others are more likely to share misinformation than they themselves are.
3.Evaluate the source
Media organizations also have biases. The Media Bias Graph explains the most and least partisan sources and how reliable they are in reporting the facts.
You can also play the internet game “Fakey” to see how vulnerable you are to the different ways news is presented on the internet.
When consuming news, find out how reliable the source is or whether it can be trusted. Rather than trusting your instincts, check news from other sources that are less biased and more fact-based to find out who and what you can trust.
Also note that some actors spreading disinformation create fake sites that look like real news sources. Thus, be careful which site you visit. The ability to break down your own thinking process improves your ability to distinguish facts from fiction.
4.Stop for a moment
Most people go online, especially on social media, for entertainment, connection and even intentional distraction. Accuracy is not high on the priority list. However, few people want to be liars and the cost of sharing false information can be too high for individuals, relationships and society as a whole. Before you decide to share something, stop and remember the value you place on truth and accuracy.
Thinking to yourself, “Is what I’m sharing true?” can help you stop the spread of misinformation and encourages you to look beyond the headline and possibly confirm it before sharing.
Even if you’re not thinking specifically about accuracy, stopping before sharing can give your mind a chance to catch up with your feelings. Ask yourself if you really want to share this and why. Think about what the possible consequences of sharing could be.
Research shows that most misinformation is shared quickly and without much thought. The impulse to share without thinking can be even stronger than partisan tendencies to share. Give yourself time. Take your time. You are not a breaking news organization where thousands of people receive urgent news.
5.Be aware of your emotions
People often share things out of instinct rather than as a result of critical thinking. A recent study found that people who review social media feeds when they are emotional are much more likely to share misinformation than those who review them more rationally.
Anger and anxiety in particular, make people more vulnerable to misinformation.
6.Take action when you see something wrong
Resist misinformation in public. Standing up to your friends online can be uncomfortable, especially if you tend to avoid arguments. The person to whom you send a link to a verification site may be uncomfortable with their mistake held against them.
But it is known to be an effective way to think about the reasoning in a post and provide counter-evidence with links to why it is wrong.
Even short rebuttals, such as saying, “That’s not true,” are more effective than saying nothing at all. Humor can also work as long as it does not reach the level of mocking the other person. People correcting misinformation online can be just as effective, if not more effective, than social media companies flagging a post as suspicious.
People trust other people, especially those in their social circles, more than they trust algorithms and bots, especially if you have expertise on the topic or a close relationship with the person sharing the content.
Public rebuttals also have the added benefit of being implicit warnings to others to be more careful before sharing. So you are deterring others, if not the original poster.
7.If you see someone standing up against misinformation, support them
Let’s say you see someone pointing out that a news story is wrong: Don’t say, “Someone else has already said it, I don’t need to say it.” The fact that more people pointed out that this post was false suggests that sharing false information is generally frowned upon.
Stand with those who stand against misinformation. If you don’t support it and it gets shared over and over again, it reinforces the belief that it’s appropriate to share misinformation because everyone is sharing it and very few people are standing up against it
Allowing misinformation to spread makes it more likely that even more people will start to believe it. Because people start to believe what they hear over and over again, even if they know it’s not true at first.
There is no perfect solution. Some misinformation is harder to overcome than others, and some tactics are more effective at different times or with different people. But there are many steps you can take to protect yourself and the people in your social networks from confusion, deception and falsehoods.
