The Internet. Tabloids. Social media. All these channels and more are becoming a huge dilemma for the ignorant masses. Nowadays, it's ridiculously easy for a rumour to start and spread like wildfire. In a matter of seconds, one blog post, one Facebook update can spread misinformation to thousands of people like a contagious virus.
We can see this in the most recent example in the news regarding the Ebola "crisis." One case in the United States and suddenly there's panicked talks about this being the next bubonic plague. It was so widely talked about that satirical websites were cracking jokes at this being the first zombie apocalypse. Despite this misinformation, people can't really be blamed for getting scared since many of the U.S. media outlets fed off the situation and capitalized on it by fear mongering. What people can be blamed for, however, is their laziness to search for factual information any further than their twitter feed.
Unfortunately, it's not the first time a situation like this has happened, nor will it be the last. The problem of misinformation circulating around society is a compound problem. It has layers; the uppermost is the aforementioned laziness, followed by the inexplicable paranoia that prevents them from believing the truth when it's before their eyes.
To further explain and simplify that point, here's another example: flu season is upon us once again and yet many still refuse to get their shot. Some of these reasons are that it contains mercury, it causes the illness it's supposed to protect against, and/or that it contains neurotoxic and formaldehyde ingredients. None of these are true except the last one, although formaldehyde is actually produced by our bodies already so not harmful to us. Obviously, this example is adequate enough to illustrate how misinformation can be dangerous.
Numerous doctors across Canada have been trying to correct this propaganda, but no one seems to believe them. They would rather believe that an entire institution of medical professionals is lying to the entire population for the sole purpose of profit rather than believe they might actually be trying to help people.
The next layer in the onion of information trouble is the ease with which it's spread. Thanks to social media, all people have to do is read a headline of a status post without looking at the source and click "share." Suddenly, everyone is thinking headlines such as "CDC Attempts To Put Ebola Outbreak In Perspective By Releasing List Of Worse Ways To Die" are actually true. By the way, that's the current top headline on the Onion's website. Essentially, Facebook and Twitter have become best friends with lazy people who don't care about verifying information.
Lastly (for now), news organizations also need to take some responsibility for the prolific permeation of factless information. Too often, big media outlets that people are supposed to trust for verified information make mistakes because they're under the gun of time and forced to compete with social media. With too much to report crunched into too little time, it's not uncommon for them to report what makes it to social media first without properly verifying it. With enough mistakes, people begin to lose faith in the media's imperviousness to social media-fueled rumours and gossip. We as the media are gatekeepers and thus information usually only goes viral if we let it slip through. Once it does, we're the ones held responsible for its contagious spread.
So how do common people combat this contagion when even the media gets it wrong?
Easy: be skeptical. Be leery of everything you read and everything you watch. That's not to say you should go to other extreme and refuse to believe information that's verified by the relevant professionals (*cough* vaccinations *cough*). It just means that if you come across something that seems unreal or fishy, go hunt down other reputable news sources to see if it's been substantiated. Lastly - and this is the really easy part - DON'T. HIT. SHARE. If you've followed the first couple of steps, you'll likely have a good idea by this point if it's true or not. If you still share it even though you think it might not be true, then you might as well wear an Idiot Hat.
Propaganda is dangerous. As terrible as the Ebola crisis is, the misinformation spread is the worst epidemic in the world today.
MJ
