Name: Coronavirus Shows You May Not Be as Good at Detecting Misinformation as You Think
Brand: sciencealert.com
SKU: sciencealert-com-37
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

Coronavirus Shows You May Not Be as Good at Detecting Misinformation as You Think

preview

Most of us believe at detecting misinformation. This, of course, is a statistical impossibility – one that the has well and truly put to the test.As case numbers surge in the US, bringing a devastating wave of over 2,000 deaths per day, physicians and other health experts plead with citizens to heed public health advice. The problem is, some people still think the pandemic is a hoax."You go to different parts of the country, and even when the outbreak is clear and hospitals are on the verge of being overrun, there are a substantial proportion of the people who still think that this is not real, that it's fake news or that it's a hoax," immunologist and director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Anthony Fauci . has found this tendency to believe we're more discerning than others is one of the key reasons why stopping misinformation about the pandemic online has proven so tough. We all think it's everyone else that's more vulnerable to misinformation."This makes it harder to get people to participate in media literacy education or training efforts, because it suggests that most people think everyone else needs the training more than they do," communications researcher Yang Cheng from North Carolina State University.So those around us end up mistakenly fuelling the , leading not only to further spreading of the , but as well.Surveying 1,793 adults in the US, Cheng and colleague Yunjuan Luo from South China University of Technology, also found misinformation was more likely to evoke negative emotions like fear and disgust."Since fear, worry, or other negative emotions can facilitate information seeking, or encourage people to avoid specific behaviours during a crisis, communicators may want to consider using these emotional messages to convey accurate information about and public health," Cheng .Making use of disgust to communicate health advice has also been suggested by research into . However, too much negativity can also be unproductive."One of the most difficult things is to raise the right amount of fear in people," communications researcher Holley Wilkin from Georgia State University, who was not involved in the study. "You want them to take the pandemic seriously, but you don't want to go overboard so they think 'please, that will never happen."Wilkin that when people face constant fear, fear-based messages are no longer as powerful. Focusing on what can be gained then becomes more important. So, correctly targeting messages requires an understanding of your audience."There's no monolithic audience out there that will respond to the same messages in the same ways. We need to use multiple sources through multiple channels because a segment of people may not trust this person, but they might trust that person," Wilkin.But there are we can use to speak to the people we care about who are misinformed. One such strategy is ."I ask my patients about their biggest barriers to changing their minds or habits; this way, I know which worries or misinformation to try to address," physician Yoo Jung Kim in June, warning against resorting to ridicule and fearmongering when talking to people who are misinformed and stressing the importance of using empathy, patience, and respect."Those who feel their beliefs are being threatened can become ."Just as with the , we often mistakenly approach health behaviours as if they were 100 percent up to the individual. But this is often not the case, Wilkin . Between and to spread fear and lies about the virus, it is important to remember a lot of this misinformation arises from wider problems, including The media also have had a role in creating this problem."If a media outlet gives equal voice and time to science experts and science skeptics, whether it's with regards to or COVID-19, it conveys the message that 'this is a debatable thing,' even when it's not. People start to question whether scientists know what they're talking about," Wilkin.The reality is that even if we all wanted to, not everyone will ever have the opportunity to learn the media (and science!) literacy required to process the masses of information we now deal with every day. So, misinformation must be combatted at the .The good news is that Cheng and Luo also that the better someone thinks they are at detecting misinformation, the more likely they are to support such regulations.Their research has been published in .

Most of us believe at detecting misinformation. This, of course, is a statistical impossibility – one that the has well and truly put to the test.As case numbers surge in the US, bringing a devastating wave of over 2,000 deaths per day, physicians and other health experts plead with citizens to heed public health advice. The problem is, some people still think the pandemic is a hoax."You go to different parts of the country, and even when the outbreak is clear and hospitals are on the verge of being overrun, there are a substantial proportion of the people who still think that this is not...

public

Tessa Koumoundouros is Journalist and editorial assistant at ScienceAlert. She is fascinated by all living things, so it’s no surprise she mainly writes about biology, health, and the environment.  Tessa has contributed behind the scenes at The Conversation and the Climate Council, and her science reporting has been published by Lateral Magazine. She holds a Bachelor of Science with honors, majoring in zoology and genetics, and a Masters in Science Communication. She also worked as an exotics veterinary nurse, before joining the ScienceAlert editorial team in 2018.  She is an accomplished illustrator and designer, and puts her skills to work when curating incredible images for ScienceAlert’s social media, and designing infographics such as the This Week in Science series.  In her spare time, Tessa loves exploring wild places, stalking wildlife with a camera, reading, and drawing.

Coronavirus Shows You May Not Be as Good at Detecting Misinformation as You Think

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS