What even is misinformation? And how is it different from disinformation? Misinformation is false or inaccurate information that is unintentionally spread. Disinformation on the other hand, is false or inaccurate information that is intentionally spread to cause harm or personal gain; to instigate uncertainty and chaos. While one is spread with more malicious intent, both are problems for social media users. Because they are both false information, they can influence people’s opinions on certain topics and ideas, such as who to vote for in an election. Even if the correct information is known, feeding a little disinformation can alter your original opinion and perspective on a certain topic.
Both types of false information are spread through social media when they are posted and reposted, with comments and likes and shares. As they gain more popularity, more people see and are exposed to the information, hence further spreading it. And more recently, advanced AI can create fake news, videos, and posts to influence people’s opinions. AI also spreads information at much faster rates than possible before, which means that false information spreads quickly. When the information is in the form of audio and video, it sticks better.
When it comes to spreading misinformation and disinformation, it can be anyone. As far as misinformation
goes, one simple mistake from anyone can spread information that is false or not entirely true. Disinformation
can also be spread by anyone, although it is usually a small amount of people spreading the information.
For example, politicians might spread disinformation about their opponents in order to discourage people
from voting for them and to vote for them. Or, someone might simply not like a certain celebrity or person and
spread disinformation about them.
Fake news itself is just disinformation spread in order to influence people’s ideas on a topic or for
personal gain. So many people fall for fake news, but why is that? Some sources believe that confirmation
bias is to blame, that people just want to see something to confirm their beliefs, even if it isn’t true.
And while this may be true sometimes, what about situations where one has no bias? Many people, whether
they see the news while scrolling through social media or watching TV, don’t pay so much attention to the
publishers of the information. In other words, most people do not check for credibility when just looking
the news. And this makes it so easy to fall for fake news; not caring to wonder whether the information is
credible leads to automatic belief and the spread of false information.