Getting Through the
"Info-demic"
"Info-demic"
As the pandemic has progressed, we’ve noticed on Facebook and other online spaces that information that gets shared about COVID-19, treatment for the virus, the actions of officials, and the vaccine hasn’t always been the best—in fact, it’s often misinformation and disinformation. We want to give you some tools that you can use to try to tell what’s probably true from what’s probably not and make informed decisions for yourself. So, here’s a breakdown of what counts as dis/misinformation, followed by a toolkit for figuring out whether what you’re reading or hearing is for yourself.
Before we get into definitions and tools, we’d like to toot our own horn just a bit. As we mentioned earlier, we’ve been debunking myths around the pandemic (and reporting on racism as a health crisis) for a while now, so if you’d like a weekly round-up of new things you might want to know, check out our ongoing coverage here (new posts go up every Sunday)!
Definitions
“Misinformation” is false, wrong, or out-of-context information that is presented as facts. In other words, it’s stuff that isn’t true but people are saying it is, regardless of whether they know it’s wrong or not.
“Disinformation” is a type of misinformation that is intentionally false and intended to trick or mislead. Basically, it’s when people know they’re lying to you but do it anyway. A lot of the time, the person saying it is hoping you’ll get hurt.
Both misinformation and disinformation involve the sharing of bad or debunked information, so it’s critical to take a look at what is actually being shared in any post you come across related to the vaccine or COVID-19. One very important thing is that disinformation can become misinformation—someone can create a lie to hurt people, and then innocent people end up believing it and spreading the lie themselves, thinking it’s true. Just because someone is sharing wrong information doesn’t mean they’re trying to hurt you (most of the time, they actually think they’re helping!), but they’ve been caught up in someone else’s attempt to hurt you.
With misinformation, what often happens is that someone will share an article that makes claims that are impossible or silly (to people who are experts and understand what’s going on), or is just people guessing or speculating about things they don’t really have answers to. This kind of misinformation is often about the virus’s origins, current statistics around the pandemic, what vaccines do, or best practices for protecting oneself from the virus. Sometimes, misinformation can be celebrities sharing personal anecdotes or claims to their millions of followers with no evidence or scientific grounding (as in the recent example of rapper Nicki Minaj, who made claims that simply aren’t true, even if she didn’t realize it).
With disinformation, these examples often look like theories about the virus that are claimed to be true or worth examination, and these posts are shared so that people or entire groups will get harmed (either by contracting the virus, trying dangerous “treatments” that don’t work, or putting others in danger by allowing the virus to spread more easily). There are some people who are actively trying to harm you with disinformation, so it’s important to be cautious!
As new COVID-19 variants emerge, with different transmissibility in both vaccinated and unvaccinated people, doing your best to stay up to date on the latest findings is important. Doing your due diligence and following up on findings, especially for an ever-evolving pandemic, means learning about which myths and false claims are circulating. Spotting dis/misinformation as it spreads can be tricky, so below, we’ve made a toolkit for getting straight to the facts.
Dis/Misinformation Toolkit:
To simplify the process, here’s an easy, four-step method for cutting through the fog and shedding a spotlight on what’s real and what’s not.
1. The Claim: What is Being Said?
When you first encounter a post that you’re unsure of or that makes major new claims, ask yourself a simple question: What is this post claiming? If there is a linked article or website, what is it claiming? If there are images associated with the post, what are they conveying? Asking these questions helps you to cut out all the extra stuff and get straight to the point.
In looking at the claim, try to find logical fallacies (more on that below) and be wary of trickery. This might look like a claim making huge leaps in logic to scare you or trick you into thinking one way over another.
If you’re looking at an article or website, good journalistic writing and reporting usually gives you all the details right in the very first paragraph. Look there to see what the author is claiming. Are you able to easily see what they are saying regarding the overall message?
The goal with this step is to break down the post/article/website into the first part of a formula: This Author/Website/Organization is claiming X (and/or Y and/or Z).
2. The Credibility: Who is Making the Claim?
Beyond the claim itself, look to the author. Is there an easily identifiable author? Are you able to see their credentials, either there or through a thorough Google search? What about the website? What organization or entity is behind the information being presented?
Once you’ve been able to establish what the claim is, the next step is to assess who is actually making the claim. If it is a social media post, do you know who has shared the content? Are you able to look up their bio? What organizations are they affiliated with?
The goal with this step is to add onto the formula above:
This Author/Website/Organization is claiming X (and/or Y and/or Z). This entity is or is not credible because X (and/or Y and/or Z).
3. The Data: What is Supporting the Claim?
To find out where the claim is coming from, look at what data is being presented. If there are statistics being shared, do they come with a source? If there are claims being made about the virus, are they based against accurate findings from a source that would have real data? Be wary about vague source material—especially the phrase “scientists say” with no citation or only a single person (who is not an expert on the topic) cited. Also, be wary of any claim that does not have data supporting it, which is often the first red flag when it comes to dis/misinformation.
The goal with this step is to add to the above formula with another part:
This Author/Website/Organization is claiming X (and/or Y and/or Z). This entity is or is credible/not credible because X (and/or Y and/or Z). To make that claim, they are using data/claims/findings that show X (and/or Y and/or Z).
4. The Warrant: Why are They Making This Claim?
With this final step, ask yourself: Why is this person posting this content? Or, why was this article written? Of course, a somewhat obvious answer might be, because there is a pandemic, but beyond that, what is the purpose of this post?
Be wary of people who urge you to share their post widely. If that is the reason for the post, it’s likely they’re trying to recruit others into sharing their dis/misinformation and other content. Good researchers and other people with real data don’t typically rely on having people spread it for them on social media. That doesn’t mean that spreading accurate information on social media isn’t helpful, just that posts that say “share this with your friends” are more likely to be misinformation/disinformation than accurate information.
The goal at this final step is to finish the formula:
This Author/Website/Organization is claiming X (and/or Y and/or Z). This entity is or is credible/not credible because X (and/or Y and/or Z). To make that claim, they are using data/claims/findings that show X (and/or Y and/or Z). They are making this claim because of X (and/or Y and/or Z).
Putting the Toolkit into Action: Some Tips!
It’s important to know what someone’s intending when they post a piece of information so you know what they’re trying to get you to do—whether that might be buying a product, voting for a political candidate, or taking one kind of medication over another. The intention may not be coming from the person who is sharing it with you—it may be coming from someone else who convinced the person you know to share it.
Regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, dis/misinformation can look like unfounded claims regarding things like ivermectin being effective for treating COVID-19 (see our reporting on this and why this is not true). But it can also look like disinformation meant to scare you about the vaccines, what they do to your body, and how they work. So, let’s look a bit more at how we can cut through all the noise and get to the facts so you can make informed decisions for yourself! Starting with looking at the images that might accompany a post.
Assessing Images
Take a general look at any pictures (or videos) in a social media post or news story. Is the information showcased trying to inform you about something? Is it trying to persuade you to do something? In terms of dis/misinformation about the vaccine, you might have seen posts with images meant to instill fear, anger, or some other strong emotion that overrides any other kind of reaction you might have when looking at that post. These are appeals to emotion that are meant to drown out any kind of logical engagement, such as checking whether a claim is true and if the information being shared has been confirmed or checked.
Emotional appeals are often a Trojan Horse for mis/disinformation, because they often can be a way to sneak in prejudices and biases before you can critically examine the content. This approach isn’t always used to trick people, though! Think about when someone might have had something terrible happen to them, and they use a heartbreaking image of the situation to appeal to others’ empathy. Those are moments where we feel bad for others, but even then, you should pay attention to the cause, what the money is being used for, and what that person is actually dealing with beyond what’s shown in the image. So, when you’re looking at a post, check to see if there are images associated with the post. If there are, ask yourself this simple question: What purpose do they serve?
Take a look at the pictures and think about what is being shown. If there are people, what kind of faces are they making, and how does that match the information in the post? What is happening around the people? If there are needles or other medical items, why are they being shown?
Take, for example, a post someone might have shared about children being vaccinated. The image might depict scared children, as if they’re in danger, in a post talking about the vaccine’s safety. But, when you click on the post, you might read that the risk for bad side effects from the vaccines is extremely low (check out our coverage on that here). But even before you’ve clicked on the post, your mind is already processing a child in danger, which affects your first impression about the information being shared—the picture is using your empathy for children against you. In other examples, you might see a prominent figure, such as a politician or celebrity, along with a headline detailing a claim that person might have made—for better or worse.
Depending on the type of image being used (such as if the person is being shown in a less-than-flattering light), then whatever you might read from that person is impacted by the visual of that person.
