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Information overload helps fake news spread

scientificamerican.com

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Re: Information overload helps fake news spread

#81

Post by wombatmobile »

chordalkeyboard wrote: post #47
wombatmobile wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I won't mention names because I'll only be downvoted Interesting choice you're making there - social acceptance prioritised over journalistic accuracy and scientific advocacy.

I think its better characterized as making the meta-level point without specifics as various people's disagreements on the object level would drown out the meta-level point. FWIW, I think he made the right decision.

> I think its better characterized as making the meta-level point

I couldn't evaluate the merits of his claim, which is that famous people are broadcasting nonsense, because he didn't name any of these people or cite any example. Had he done so, I could have formed an opinion based on the facts presented.

Re: Information overload helps fake news spread

#82

Post by dsign »

The world is complicated and very difficult to understand. Worst, most people have no motivation whatsoever to even try... and it's not just about politics or social policies. I wonder if we would be better off by building incentives for people to qualify themselves during their entire lifetime or at least for as long as they have a right to vote.

Re: Information overload helps fake news spread

#83

Post by 6gvONxR4sf7o »

nprz wrote: post #5

This constant pushing of stories about Fake News and Misinformation makes it really feel like there's a concerted effort to alter public opinion on censorship and free speech.

Makes me feel like people are just fed up with all the bullshit that's out there. A lot of people who feel like misinformation is a problem we can make progress on don't think censorship is the solution. It's a hard problem, and it's an unsolved one. Griping about it increases the pressure on people to find solutions.

Re: Information overload helps fake news spread

#84

Post by mfer »

nillium wrote: post #32

Shameless plug, but this is something we are working on right now. Social media is a terrible medium for news. Aside from the ability for anyone to post anything, which can easily lead to misinformation, it also sets up the absolute worst incentives. If news organizations are expected to share their reporting for free, and only be able to monetize when someone clicks through to their page -- you end up with clickbait…

How does this help with information overload? It looks like a new channel of information to add to the existing flows. What am I missing?

If it's reporters notes (like the site says) it means what consumers get isn't distilled into the flow of a story that informs. That is left up to people who consume to do and to do that they need to get all the details. Sounds overwhelming to me. Or, am I missing something?

Re: Information overload helps fake news spread

#85

Post by farias0 »

damnencryption wrote: post #20
farias0 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't you think this public worrying is deserved, given the rise of Facebook and algorithms, troll farms and everything else?

What changed in the recent years is the amount of media time nutjobs on the internet get that everyone ignored back then. Nothing else. If you checked qanon groups before and after media attention, you will notice a steep increase in member count. There is a dilemma. Should we report and amplify their voice or should we shut up about an "increasing" problem? Some problems do disappear when you ignore them.

Are you sure the media started reporting on these fake news before they became relevant? What makes you believe this?

I think the easiness with which algorithms + human psychology helps the propagation of fake news are well documented and widely understood.

Re: Information overload helps fake news spread

#87

Post by chordalkeyboard »

wombatmobile wrote: post #81
chordalkeyboard wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think its better characterized as making the meta-level point without specifics as various people's disagreements on the object level would drown out the meta-level point. FWIW, I think he made the right decision.

> I think its better characterized as making the meta-level point I couldn't evaluate the merits of his claim, which is that famous people are broadcasting nonsense, because he didn't name any of these people or cite any example. Had he done so, I could have formed an opinion based on the facts presented.

I've seen famous people on the news broadcast claims that contradict each other on covid-19 for 6 months. They can't both be right. This neatly sidesteps my own inability to evaluate claims about epidemiology and disease (because I'm not a physician or public health professional).

Re: Information overload helps fake news spread

#88

Post by agentdrtran »

vorpalhex wrote: post #14

I'm really conflicted over this article because it makes some really good points but is missing the forest through the trees. Information overload is very real, and people are very prone to making mistakes when digesting information from social media. The answer isn't to kill social media or force users to solve CAPTCHAS before posting. It's to improve those critical rationality skills and the ability to analyze info…

> It's to improve those critical rationality skills and the ability to analyze information.

You can not apply personal solutions to systemic problems.

Re: Information overload helps fake news spread

#89

Post by omgwtfbyobbq »

thehappypm wrote: post #58
bananabreakfast wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What in the hell is Russiagate? If you're referring to Russia actively interfering with American elections through a pointed and state sponsored disinformation campaign that continues to this day... then that's not a narrative? That's a thing that's happening that matters and is one of the principle sources of bad actors behind this very article

Russiagate is basically the idea that the Trump campaign was working closely with Russia to "cheat" the 2016 election. The Mueller report showed.. Russia was messing around for sure, but the Trump campaign wasn't really involved in any meaningful way.

Are we reading the same report?

There was definitely meaningful involvement by the Trump campaign in Russia's efforts to undermine the 2016 election.

One example...

5. June 9, 2016 Meeting at Trump Tower

On June 9, 2016, senior representatives of the Trump Campaign met in Trump Tower with a Russian attorney expecting to receive derogatory information about Hillary Clinton from the Russian government. The meeting was proposed to Donald Trump Jr. in an email from Robert Goldstone, at the request of his then-client Emin Agalarov, the son of Russian real-estate developer Aras Agalarov. Goldstone relayed to Trump Jr. that the “Crown prosecutor of Russia . . . offered to provide the Trump Campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia” as “part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.” Trump Jr. immediately responded that “if it’s what you say I love it,” and arranged the meeting through a series of emails and telephone calls.

At the same time, that wasn't enough evidence to charge most members of the Trump campaign under existing laws.

C. Russian Government Outreach and Contacts

As explained in Section IV above, the Office’s investigation uncovered evidence of numerous links (i.e., contacts) between Trump Campaign officials and individuals having or claiming to have ties to the Russian government. The Office evaluated the contacts under several sets of federal laws, including conspiracy laws and statutes governing foreign agents who operate in the United States. After considering the available evidence, the Office did not pursue charges under these statutes against any of the individuals discussed in Section IV above—with the exception of FARA charges against Paul Manafort and Richard Gates based on their activities on behalf of Ukraine.

https://www.justice.gov/storage/report.pdf

Re: Information overload helps fake news spread

#90

Post by nickysielicki »

bananabreakfast wrote: post #54
Nacdor wrote: post #44

I think one of the root causes of this is the increasingly partisan behavior of the "mainstream" media. People are sick of having their opinions dictated to them, they're sick of media outlets that all push the same narratives 24/7 (Russiagate, anyone?), and they're desperately searching for any outlet that will objectively report "all the news that's fit to print" (as the NY Times likes to say). In the past year we…

What in the hell is Russiagate? If you're referring to Russia actively interfering with American elections through a pointed and state sponsored disinformation campaign that continues to this day... then that's not a narrative? That's a thing that's happening that matters and is one of the principle sources of bad actors behind this very article

To play devil's advocate, Hunter Biden allegedly left his laptop at a repair shop in Delaware, and an alarming amount of former intelligence officials came out and bizarrely stated that, in spite of having no evidence of it, they believed there was Russian involvement. [1]

If that's not setting off bullshit alarm bells in your head, I don't think anything will. No, it's not reasonable to believe that Russia is responsible for someone leaving their private property at a repair shop. But people eat that garbage up because they like to hear it. So much so that it even was seriously mentioned in one of the debates. That doesn't change the fact that it makes no sense.

Republicans have not-so-fringe QAnon and Dominiongate weirdos. They're insane. Democrats have not-so-fringe Russia conspiracy theorists. They're dumb.

The only way to narrow the whole spectrum of misinformation is to call things fairly when we see them. Nothing is ever going to get solved unless people are able to critique the fringe of their own side as strongly as they critique the fringe of the other side.

[1]: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/19/hunter-biden-story-...

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