Online misinformation

Student opinions on the effects of online misinformation

Graphic by Nethra Pai, Staff Writer

Sydney Mulford, Features Editor & Katelyn Wu, Staff Writer

Sharing news and updating the public on world issues has always been very important for society. However, like many fields, corruption is prevalent in journalistic enterprises and misinformation in news continues to be a problem. Regardless of country, political position, and economic status, misinformation in the news affects everyone.

In the past, newspapers were the primary source of news, and news companies often exaggerated or manipulated information in their articles to create flashy headlines that attracted potential consumers.

“In the past, I feel like there wasn’t pure objectivity [in the media],” Maggie Craig, a Georgia Scholastic Press Association student ambassador, said. “It was more biased and more politically charged because back when newspapers were in print, certain things would sell and certain things didn't sell as much.” 

Today, students primarily use social media and technology to view the news. This takes the form of articles on the internet, television programs, podcasts, and social media apps. 

“I listen to NPR every morning,” sophomore Sophia Li said. “And usually, Instagram, on the explore page, is where I get most of my content.”

To determine credibility, students use a variety of methods. However, the problem of misinformation in the news is prominent and impacts everyone daily. 

“The first thing I check is the domain, usually .gov and .edu are the best, most accurate pieces of information,” Craig said. “There are some examples where news sources credit other news sources; those news sources are acceptable because they’re getting [the information] directly.”

Northview social studies teacher Mark Anderson also works to ensure his news is accurate and credible. When choosing what news outlets to read from, Anderson looks for reputable and long-running publications in order to reduce the chances of being exposed to possible biases.

“[The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times] are well respected, long-running news outlets with highly professional journalists,” Anderson said. “I do trust [these publications] because of their long history. I know that they might have their own bias in terms of what they choose to cover or not. But I generally think that what they're telling me is true.”

Social media often misleads its viewers because of the trends of false information seen repeatedly on it. It is easy for anyone to post whatever they want on social media which can misinform their viewers. According to a study done by MIT, tweets containing fake news were 70% more likely to be reposted than truthful tweets. For example, on Nov. 10, 2022, a fake Twitter account @EliLillyandCo, posted a tweet saying that insulin is free. Since the account was verified, viewers were quick to believe it was true. In response, Eli Lilly's shares dropped 6%. 

“Social media is not something you should rely on [for reliable news],” sophomore Girish Senthikumar said. “Today's technology is really easy for people to accumulate what data that you see.”

Sometimes, the unreliability of social media takes the form of different statistics and infographics. People often trust infographics without paying attention to the sources or analyzing them. 

“Infographics are a perfect way to capture somebody's attention who is not prone to reading a full article,” Anderson said. “I know that a lot of students are not.”

In contrast, junior Dara Hanano feels that infographics and statistics can be misleading because of the viewers' understanding rather than who is posting it. 

“When you post graphs and statistics, not everyone understands how to read it, and how to fully understand it,” Hanano said. 

However, despite the discrepancies in online news, with the internet in their hands, most people have access to resources to check their information.

“People can find out whether or not what they’re reading is true by just one simple search,” Craig said. “In the past, [people] would have to pull up an encyclopedia to check [information] and a lot of people wouldn’t go through all that trouble so they consumed newspapers blindly.” 

Our Say on Science, a science blog dedicated to educating and spreading the news about science-related topics, always makes sure to fact-check its sources before posting. Li and sophomore Rashi Patel run this blog. If they find something that is worth talking about in one source, they will research other articles to double-check that everything is true. 

“We only use good, trustworthy sources to make sure that everyone is informed about the facts instead of what rumors are spreading around on social media,” Li said. 

Similarly to Li and Patel, Hanano uses her social media platform to educate people about news and issues from around the world. She often reposts information about current events on her Instagram story, after receiving the information from Middle Eastern news sources and fact-checking with her family in Syria.

“I think it's important for everyone to try and read about things that are going on from other news articles other than the western [side of the media],” Hanano said. “I think the western side can twist things to elevate their side, especially when it comes to the Middle East. I think it's important for people to try and look at both sides of a political thing or a topic before trying to talk about it.” 

Other factors such as artificial intelligence can influence misinformation in news. Many search engine companies are working on integrating artificial intelligence into their functions in order to make it easier for people to find information by looking up keywords. 

“I know that Google and Microsoft are trying to implement [ChatGPT and AI]  into our search engines,” Anderson said. “It is going to be a thing where people just ask Google ‘hey, what's happening with the Syrian earthquake’ or something like that, and then it just spits out an answer.” 

There are various ways the internet skews how the public’s perception of the news in everyday life. To prevent this, Craig emphasizes the importance of reading the news thoroughly and not blindly trusting online sources.

“I don't know if there's any clear solution, but just being able to look it up before you believe something. Check the sources to see if they're credible; check to see if the account is funded by any sort of organization; check to see if they're a nonprofit," Craig said.