When I scroll on my phone, I often see things that look too good to be true. Clickbait fake news posts, misleading images and even AI-generated stories all overload my feed with information I cannot trust.
False news spreads six times faster than accurate information on Twitter, as people react more to misinformation and are quick to reshare it. Additionally, false news stories are 70% more likely to be retweeted than accurate posts, according to MIT News.
Over time, I have grown accustomed to double-checking everything I come across on social media before believing it. I now make sure to see if it’s a verified account or search on Google before accepting it as fact, but this has only become a recent habit.
Before I became aware of the spread of misinformation, I used to share posts and articles with my family and friends without thinking about their accuracy first.
For example, I remember sharing a link with my brother that claimed one of my favorite actors, Zendaya, was fired from an upcoming movie, only to find out later that it was false. Although this was a harmless piece of information, the fact that even an unimportant topic could have false information surrounding it undermined my trust in social media as a source for information.
After finding out that false claims about celebrities, health trends and even random niche topics can spread just as easily as politics and world events, I stopped believing everything I saw on my feed. Just like me, 64% of Americans say that fake news has caused a greater deal of confusion about basic facts of current events, according to a study by the Pew Research Center.
An easy step for me to slow the spread of misinformation and confusion among users online is to be selective about the accounts I follow. By unfollowing and reporting accounts I know are spreading false information, I can clear up my feed to more credible sources.
It’s important for others also to do the same, disabling the spread of misinformation via social media.