The Disinformation Superhighway 0
Writing at Psychology Today Blogs, Patricia Prijatel explores why those who rely on “social” media for news and information are among the most misinformed and offers some suggestions for remedying this. Here’s a bit:
- Most Americans (80 percent) get their news on digital devices. About half get it from social media. We’re inhaling only snatches of information, not nearly what we need to become the kind of well-informed citizenry our Constitution assumes.
Most of those—70 percent—read only the headline of an article. You’ve seen this—people arguing with an article that is clearly satire, or concluding that the piece said what they wanted it to say, rather than what it actually said. They clearly read no farther than the headline.
- Those who rely on social media are the most ill-informed Americans. (See 1 and 2 above.) But, boy, they may feel strongly about their misinformation.
One more time, “social” media isn’t.
