Disinformation: EOTO 2 Reaction - Blog Post #11

Disinformation is where false information is deliberately and often covertly spread in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth.

There are many aspects of spreading disinformation that appeals to people in some ways. For one, it unites certain people and removes shame because they find other groups of people that believe the same information.

It also gives these kinds of people a feeling of power, knowing that they are manipulating others into making them believe something that isn't true. Disinformation can also serve as an outlet for people to help them in confirming their pre-conceived thoughts and opinions about a topic.

For these people, spreading disinformation could also give others explanations to unexplained events. If there is something that happened in the world, such as extreme events like UFO's or everything that came with Covid, people might have spread false information to possibly feel better about the negative situation.

There are many negative implications to spreading disinformation, especially since disinformation itself is primarily negative. One of the major implications is that it takes away people's trust. If everyone is spreading disinformation, how are we going to know what is actually the truth? Our trust would be completely broken.

This action could further cause people to become emotional about others' opinions and creates a division to where people take sides on the matter. When someone disagrees with someone else on a subject, others take it seriously and try to prove themselves right because in reality, humans don't like to be proven wrong.

With the increased usage of social media, the spread of disinformation has also increased. There are many forms of disinformation online. Some include trolls, AI, hackers, and even your search history.

With all of this being said, how do we combat disinformation? Well, there are many successful ways in doing so. First, look at the author and publisher of the source, and dig deeper into whether they are credible or not.

Second, check the publication date of the source. If an article, for example, was written 30 years ago, it is probably not the most accurate and up-to-date information.

Third, and the most important, is to conduct a personal bias check. Your opinions and beliefs on a topic could potentially skew how you view it.

Overall, disinformation is very prominent online and can affect our everyday lives. Learning about disinformation allows us to be more aware of the dangers it can cause, and ultimately, helps us to become better at detecting it.