According to research, even if an information source is known to be unreliable, many people may start to believe misleading information. if they are repeated often enough .
This is why it is important to debunk the misinformation we encounter as best we can, and this work unfortunately starts at home.
Correcting the information your friends and family members share online can be stressful, but very important. According to experts, when someone we care about contacts us, we we have more gjasa to change our perspective; especially if that person is someone we usually agree with. Corrections from a family member or close friend are shared more often than those from an acquaintance, according to findings from researchers studying the spread of misinformation on WhatsApp and other messaging platforms.
The answer is empathy, according to experts who have studied online political misinformation, how it spreads, and how people distinguish fact from fiction. We need to listen and try to understand each other’s concerns, and share the sources we use to gather reliable news and information. If we really want to change someone’s perspective, we need to be prepared for more than one conversation, knowing that this cannot be solved in a short conversation.
Here are the experts' recommendations.
Start with friendship, not with the truth.
University of Wisconsin professor and political scientist Mike Wagner says it's important to remember that "the truth doesn't matter" to many people who share misinformation. These people often don't trust mainstream news sources or political institutions. Find common experiences that bring you together and show them that you're not attacking them or calling them crazy.
“Try to win their hearts, not their minds,” says Wagner. “If the truth worked, you wouldn’t need to have this conversation anyway.”
Don't act on your emotions.
Leticia Bode, a professor of disinformation interventions at Georgetown University, recommends always being kind and empathetic. Bode: “We are all exposed to misinformation at some point in our lives. It’s best to approach the conversation with good intentions. Take a deep breath and try to put aside the strong emotions that the misinformation evokes in you. A lot of misinformation, especially disinformation, is produced in a way that evokes emotions.”
Keep online messages short.
If you're talking to the other person by replying on social media or in a group chat, try to keep the message short. "Don't overwhelm them with information," says Bode. Share a link to a trusted source and move on. "You can't be worrying about fixing it all day."
Ask the question "where did you learn this?"
John Silva, director of the Literacy News Project, recommends asking someone where they first heard about it, rather than telling someone what they believe is true or false. Did you hear it on a podcast? Or read an article? Or on Twitter?
According to Silva, after asking them to share where they got their information, you can also share your own sources of information. Describe what your trusted sources share and explain why you trust them.
Talk about the money that misinformation generates.
According to Wagner, when talking to someone who believes in a conspiracy theory, it can be helpful to ask: Who benefits from your belief? Who could raise or make money thanks to the audience he created in this way?
Wagner adds that it might be helpful to remind people that someone working for a mainstream news organization like the Washington Post or NPR could be fired if they report fake news.
Deen Freelon, professor and researcher on misinformation spreading on social networks at the Hussman School of Journalism and Media at the University of North Carolina, says we need to understand that misinformation and disinformation is a profitable business, both for those who publish it and for the media platforms where it is distributed.
“[Disinformation] is very profitable, but very bad for democracy, society and PR,” says Freelon.
Don't argue in public.
Experts say it's not okay to have these conversations in public.
Instead, Silva recommends inviting the other person for coffee and discussing them in a one-on-one conversation. Even better is to wait for that person to talk about the election or the news themselves and be ready to respond. Conflict should be avoided. “None of us want to feel humiliated,” Silva said. None of us like to be wrong. It’s a pretty uncomfortable feeling. “Providing a safe space for these people to admit that they can be wrong is the best option,” he says.
Correct misinformation in the family group
The first person to share false information will always be the hardest to convince. Instead, you can try to convince everyone else who sees the information. According to Bode, people who see others' mistakes corrected are less likely to believe misinformation.
Bode says there's a risk that someone will get upset if you refute their claims on Twitter or Facebook. That's why he recommends speaking up offline, after responding to them "carefully" online.
Not everyone can be convinced, be prepared to back down.
Silva suggests backing off when voices seem to be getting louder or when you feel angry. The conversation is almost impossible to continue once it escalates into a conflict.
"You can't fix it with one conversation," Silva says. "You might need to step back and say, 'Let's talk later.'"
Remember that it takes time to change your mind.
While it's possible to change someone's mind, experts say it almost always takes more than one conversation. "You have to see it as a long-term thing," says Freelon. The people you talk to need to see that you're "personally interested" in the outcome.
Everyone is vulnerable to misinformation, says Madeline Jalbert, a researcher at the University of Washington who studies how people judge reality. According to Jalbert, once you hear and start believing a lie like “The election was rigged,” it’s hard to go back to a point where you never thought about it before. “We all have opinions that don’t quite align with reality. Adjusting that is a very complicated job,” Jalbert says.
source: teyit.org