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The “misinformation problem” seems like misinformation

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Re: The “misinformation problem” seems like misinformation

#31

Post by gorwell »

sleepingadmin wrote: post #20

Misinformation is misinformation. I am certain I am misinformed about many things. The correct response to when I post misinformation is to inform. What happened recently with the move to yellow journalism is not misinformation but rather censorship. Fact checkers end up labelling things in order to censor them. The interesting thing on my mind in regards to Canada. Trudeau has changed. He would take on people head o…

I hadn't thought about it that way, but it certainly would explain his actions. You don't compromise with nazis. If you're convinced that's what they are.

This would explain a lot about Trump too. He was in a misinformation bubble as well.

Which means even world leaders aren't immune to this tribal trap.

Re: The “misinformation problem” seems like misinformation

#33

Post by twa999 »

this piece encapsulates the mindset of mainstream libs like Matty, 1 billion stupid takes, Yglesias perfectly and can be summarized as "yeah maybe these normal people were right on some things and I dismissed that without knowing anything, but I was still right to dismiss that because they're stupid".

it's now safe for Bari Weiss to ask some questions on TV that "normal people" have been asking for quite some time now and were called all sorts of things by the same people.

We will see more articles like this.

Re: The “misinformation problem” seems like misinformation

#34

Post by SpicyLemonZest »

unfocussed_mike wrote: post #12

From the article: > That said, I do not think there is much evidence that misinformation has become more widespread, that this increase in misinformation is due to technological change, or that it is at the root of the political trends liberals are most angry about. I don't know if misinformation is at the root of the political trends liberals are most angry about , not least because it really depends on the author's…

It's interesting to consider, but the article references multiple political scientists who've studied conspiracy theories and concluded that they don't spread faster today. Is there a reason to believe they're wrong?

Re: The “misinformation problem” seems like misinformation

#36

Post by helen___keller »

The author is correct that in any debate, the prominent skeptics are often extremely well informed (joe Rogan on vaccines, in his example).

I think what the author is missing is that Joe Rogan and the likes are not spreading misinformation, but spreading tools for misinformation.

My mother in law is very deep in misinformation. I’m not talking simple anti vax, I’m talking “trump will raid the Vatican for stolen gold so we can be a free country for the first time since the 19th century” misinformation, like QAnon tier stuff.

Once, when I was still trying to convince her to get a vaccine, I told her that after Israel’s early vaccine efforts, both cases and deaths are down heavily. Her response was to pull up a screenshot of a fox headline from a YouTube video that simply stated something like “cases up 60% after vaccination in Israel”

I don’t know the context of the headline. I’m sure in whatever context, it was accurate and not misinformation. But the actual spreaders of misinformation use skeptical talking points as weapons to spread misinformation, like the vaccine being a weapon to kill off the population for the great reset.

Anyways I don’t think it’s wrong to be a skeptic. But skeptic talking points being mass weaponized on social media is absolutely new and uniquely enabled by modern technology.

Re: The “misinformation problem” seems like misinformation

#38

Post by Karunamon »

BeefWellington wrote: post #16
gorwell wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you hear the word `misinformation`, you can generally substitute with `wrongthink`. It makes much more sense that way.

I dunno about that. Thought experiment: The Earth is a flat disc. Is this misinformation, wrongthink, or both? To be sure it's a vague term applied quite continuously online but simply deflecting it as actually meaning "wrongthink" is disingenuous. There's a lot of misinformation being spread specifically about objective measurable facts. It is simultaneously true that a lot of opinions are being mislabeled as misinf…

I find that most complaints about 'misinformation' are rooted in ideological conformity rather than truth. Like most buzzwords, that doesn't mean it doesn't exist or have an objective definition, but it does mean you should closely examine the motivations of those who are loudest about it.

Re: The “misinformation problem” seems like misinformation

#39

Post by notreallyserio »

calibas wrote: post #32

In my opinion, the campaigns against "misinformation" are largely attempts by big corporations and politicians to deplatform their competition. Gotta make sure people only see trusted news sources that say the right things.

And IMO they're largely attempts to keep Coca Cola Inc (et al) from pulling their ads because Coke doesn't want their brand on sites posting QAnon/GOP talking points.

Re: The “misinformation problem” seems like misinformation

#40

Post by lariati »

Tycho wrote: post #3

“Misinformation” appears to be a term used by people who don’t want to take on the burden of proof when accusing someone of lying.

If we follow the science then what does "misinformation" mean in an information theory context?

It has no meaning at all. Since it basically has no meaning it does make it quite a good word in a propaganda context. We can make this word mean whatever we want.

It is a shame we don't use the concept of noise or a noisy channel in a wider context.

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