For this online learning journal (OLJ) post, I have selected Cotter et al.’s (2022) article titled Fact-Checking the Crisis: COVID-19, Infodemics, and the Platformisation of Truth. This study explores how Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, responded to the ‘infodemic’ and ensured the public was accurately and well informed. The study follows a quantitative approach and utilises a thematic analysis to examine what the three social media platforms did and how they implemented fact-checking policies. The study concludes that the three platforms were found to have focused their policies and procedures on managing the visibility of COVID-19 misinformation. The study further found that all three platforms had practices to verify information through a range of algorithms, attempting to ensure users were as well informed as possible.

I chose this article to analyse as the bombardment of COVID-19 information presented on my social media platforms is rife. Each day when I log in, I am presented with a post, image, video or personal opinion of COVID-19, vaccinations, mandates, etc. At the beginning of the pandemic, I spent a lot of my time sifting through these posts and attempting to ‘fact-check’ information for myself. Nowadays, I mostly ignore the posts or block and report. Cotter et al.’s (2022) study highlight that these major social media platforms have been attempting to filter through COVID-19 misinformation and present only facts. While I believe this is a good step, I agree with Cotter et al. (2022) in that the filtering of information by both human and algorithmic actors is subjective.

The study (Cotter et al., 2022) suggests that the policies and procedures for dictating whether the information is or is not false should be openly shared with users. I agree and believe that by doing so, the three major social media platforms provide their users with transparency and open avenues of trust. If I were able to read through the criteria for removing posts or sifting through misinformation, I would be able to develop an understanding of the platform’s censorship and be more likely to trust that censorship.

Although we have learned a lot about COVID-19 in the last few years, social media platforms must ensure what is presented is fact-checked and accurate. I do not have a direct answer on how this can occur; however, I believe the best way to ensure a user is presented with accurate information is to educate the user themselves on how to fact-check and catch misinformation. By being aware that not all information you are presented with is factual and by learning how to discern through that information, I believe a user is on the right path to stopping the spread of viral misinformation.

References

Cotter, K., DeCook, J. R. & Kanthawala, S. (2022). Fact-checking the crisis: COID-19, Infodemics and th eplatformisation of truth. Social Media + Society, 8(1), 1-13.