Growing Greenup
Have you ever had an experience where you felt like you were being given false information? In this day and time, we get information from multiple sources at such a fast pace that we often don’t think about where the information originated or why it is being shared. How can we be community members who are curious, interested, involved, informed, educated, and honest? How can we be diligent and aware of misinformation?
I am sharing a portion of The University of Kentucky’s UKNow online publication that addresses this topic. Please continue reading and contact me if you would like more publications on this or related topics.
Q&A: Everything You Need to Know About Managing Misinformation
Yvonne Eadon, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the School of Information Science
at the University of Kentucky College of Communication and Information.
Misinformation can cause individuals to feel fear or anxiety, and in some cases, result in mistrust from multiple sources. It even has the power to impact an individual’s personal life. Some of the ways it has evolved on a day-to-day basis include the spread of false information through social media. The topics vary from conspiracies regarding medical experimentation to politics.
UKNow interviewed Yvonne Eadon, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the School of Information Science at the University of Kentucky College of Communication and Information, who has focused on assessing the impact of online disinformation and the theme of conspiracy theories within this world. To understand more about how to control the effects that false information can bring, dive into the Q&A with Eadon below.
UKNOW: What made you interested in researching misinformation?
Eadon: I started my Ph.D. program in the fall of 2016, a tumultuous time in American and British politics that was rife with online misinformation. This was the first time that we recognized, as a society, the deleterious effects that misinformation spread could have on democratic functioning. I became really interested in misinformation broadly, and conspiracy theories specifically, because of this — once you get into it, the difficulty of pinning down the exact truth when faced with the unknown and the unknowable becomes more challenging than it seems it should be.
UKNOW: How do emotions like fear and anxiety contribute to the spread of false information?
Eadon: When you encounter something online that makes you feel anxious or fearful and it makes you want to change your behavior, be that how and what you eat, or (in other cases) how or whether or not you are voting, consider a few things. First, what about this is making you anxious? Is there something about it that taps into a larger anxiety that you have? Second, what or who is the source? Are they reputable and trustworthy? Third, do they stand to benefit or profit from your believing what they are saying? And fourth, is there a group, culture or identity that is being painted as the “villain” in the narrative you are encountering?
UKNOW: What can individuals do to manage the emotional distress that comes from disinformation?
Eadon: If you are feeling distressed because of disinformation you have encountered, I recommend taking a step back from whichever platform you may have seen it on. Disinformation is designed to heighten your emotions and platforms like TikTok, X and Instagram are designed to keep you using them for as long as possible. Taking a step back and trying to do something else — exercising, reading, watching a TV show or a movie or even doing chores — can get you out of that heightened emotional state.
It can also be highly distressing to encounter disinformation narratives from a family member who has fallen down a disinformation rabbit hole. Arguing, shaming or attempting to “debunk” these narratives is often unsuccessful and can cause your loved one to become even more attached to their beliefs. Validating the emotions they’re feeling, like fear, anxiety, anger, suspicion and overwhelm, is a good first step. Identifying with them — “I’ve believed things I’ve read on this internet too that turned out to be false; it’s nothing to be embarrassed of” — is also a good idea. Approach conversations with respect for their autonomy and intellect, first and foremost, and by trying to understand where they’re coming from. There is no guarantee that this will get them out of the rabbit hole, but having level-headed, respectful conversations is always a good idea. This can also be very emotionally taxing — so walk away when you need to.
UKNOW: How is misinformation tied to losing trust in something or someone? Do you believe there is a way to rebuild trust once it has been lost due to misinformation?
Eadon: The appeal of misinformation often derives from a loss of trust in our institutions — failures of the government, the health care system and the media (among others) to take care of and inform the U.S. citizenry have contributed to waning trust in powerful centralized entities. There can be an appeal to absorbing information from a random TikTok creator over The New York Times. In fact, misinformation can even come directly from your friends. Exhausted by institutional failures, populism becomes increasingly appealing in all senses. Restoring trust in institutions is a complex undertaking, but broadly, these systems and institutions need to prove themselves to us again.
For more information, contact Anne Stephens, Agent for Community Arts and Development in Greenup County. 606.836.0201 anne.stephens@uky.edu 35 Wurtland Avenue, Wurtland, KY 41144 The Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment is an Equal Opportunity Organization with respect to education and employment and authorization to provide research, education information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function without regard to economic or social status and will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnic origin, national origin, creed, religion, political belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, marital status, genetic information, age, veteran status, physical or mental disability or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity. University of Kentucky, Kentucky State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Kentucky Counties, cooperating.
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