You will learn
- Why some people share false and misleading information.
- Where and how misinformation can surface online.
- How to detect misinformation.
- Three questions to ask that help you discern fact from fiction.
The amount of misinformation online can be overwhelming, but the Digital Inquiry Group has developed a set of three questions you can ask to help you cut through the fog of misinformation:
(The Digital Inquiry Group, formerly the Stanford History Education Group, creates digital literacy curriculum that helps young people to sort fact from fiction online.)
Conversation starters
Misinformation, disinformation and where it travels
Many people share information, because they think it may be useful to friends or family members. Sometimes they do so without verifying whether the information is based on facts. When falsehoods spread without intent, this is misinformation.
On the other hand, bad actors online may deliberately share falsehoods — to make money, change your mind or to gain clout. This is known as disinformation.
Misinformation and disinformation can surface in many forms. Click or tap on each plus sign below to see how misinformation can hide in these examples. You can also read up on the truth about this claim here.
Grains of Truth
Misinformation often contains kernels of truth so that it appears more convincing. For example, some falsehoods are based on information that’s real but these grains of truth lack context and may lead to misleading conclusions.
Real content — whether text, images, audio, video or multimedia — has the potential to be paired with falsehoods or opinions that can support false narratives.
Critical thinking and critical ignoring
Critical thinking involves keeping an open mind and carefully analyzing evidence. As we’re inundated with multimedia, it’s important to not only think critically but also to decide not to invest time in posts that aim to hijack attention. This is known as critical ignoring, which empowers you to resist low-quality and misleading information. While critical thinking allows you to analyze and evaluate the information you’re viewing, critical ignoring involves tuning out sources that are irrelevant or not reputable.
Activity
Put these three powerful questions to use. Using your own social media feed, or working with a group to search current popular sites, locate a post that makes a claim you want to verify. Use the three questions to check it out:
1. Who’s behind the information?
Look into the person or group that posted this. What are their credentials? Are they credible?
2. What’s the evidence?
Find any evidence that the claim makes and use lateral reading to search for more evidence that backs up—or refutes—the evidence.
3. What are other sources saying?
As you evaluate the evidence, look at the sources you are using to do it. Try to get to primary sources and use reputable sites to verify your information.
Once you’ve answered these three questions, you should be able to determine just how accurate that claim is.
Vocabulary check
Takeaway
Often when verifying posts you see online, you’re not always given the best starting point for debunking the claim. The three DIG questions—Who’s behind the information? What’s the evidence? What do other sources say?—serve as a strong foundation for dissecting information efficiently.
References and Resources
