Let’s first look at what is meant by “Authentic information”. My personal view is that authentic information refers to the factual information related to a particular context or subject matter. Others may have a different view, that’s fine, however for the purpose of this blog I need you to understand my view, this is a view I have come to the conclusion over many years of researching and exploring different areas for the purpose of being “informed” when making decisions. There are some major issues surrounding authentic information; (mis)information and fact-checking are current issues surrounding the socially networked world. Discerning of authentic information is difficult in the social networked world due to the extremely large amount of information created and disseminated online. There are two issues I would like to look at here: the extent to which (mis)information spreads (the how) and the ability of people to discern authentic information (fact-check).
Information is more accessible than ever! There has in recent years been a shift from major news outlets to the non-mainstream news, and with this an issue arising with (mis)information and the concept of ‘fake news’ emerging (Nekmat, 2020; Schulten & Brown, 2017). The spreading of (mis)information or ‘fake news’ via social media is a major issue for users and the manipulation of public opinion and democratic processes (Iosifidis & Nicoli, 2019, pp. 66). The fact that social media platforms facilitate the ease of the spread of non-authentic information makes it a difficult issue to tackle and improve (Iosifidis & Nicoli, 2019, pp. 75). The paid advertising on social media sites changes what people see on a regular basis (Jewell, 2017), this changes people’s views as there is no way to discern the difference between authentic and non-authentic information from advertisements, this causes issues with scams being easily conducted with (mis)information.
For people wanting information there is an overwhelming amount of authentic and non-authentic information circulating, being able to discern the difference is an issue for many. Discerning information quality is an issue for students and people around the world, with varying levels of trust associated with social media information (Johnston, 2018, pp. 26). The use of sharing on social media can make it difficult for people to discern authentic and non-authentic information (Shen et al. 2018, pp. 441). There is not credibility or peer-review processes for sharing on social media platforms, resulting in people trusting what they view (Shen et al. 2018, pp. 441) or for those capable of conducting research into information they view on social media and cross checking the relevant sources. The concept of a fact checking alert would simplify the authentication process for many (Nekmat, 2020, pp. 2).
Iosifidis, P., & Nicoli, N. (2019). The battle to end fake news: A qualitative content analysis of Facebook announcements on how it combats disinformation. International Communication Gazette, 82(1), 60-81. doi:10.1177/1748048519880729
Jewell, J. (2017, February 22). If Facebook ruled the world: Mark Zuckerberg’s vision of a digital future. The Conversation.
Johnston, N. (2018). Living in the Post-Truth World: Recent Research and Resources. InCite, 39(3/4), 26–27.
Nekmat, E. (2020). Nudge Effect of Fact-Check Alerts: Source Influence and Media Skepticism on Sharing of News Misinformation in Social Media. Social Media + Society, 1(1), pp. 1-14. Sage Publishing. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2056305119897322
Schulten, K., & Brown, A. C. (2017, January 19). Evaluating sources in a ‘post-truth’ world: Ideas for teaching and learning about fake news. New York Times.
Shen, C., Kasra, M., Pan, W., Bassett, G. A., Malloch, Y., & O’Brien, J. F. (2018). Fake images: The effects of source, intermediary, and digital media literacy on contextual assessment of image credibility online.New Media & Society, 1461444818799526.