Cultivating an ethos of social responsibility in an age of misinformation

Abstract

Recently on the evening news, a report aired about public-school vandalism happening across the country, provoked by a recent trending video on Tik-Tok inviting users to share the biggest thing they were able to steal from their school [1]. Bathroom fixtures have been a popular choice, causing significant damage, which is what has elevated this recent trend to newsworthy status. In keeping with similar trends on YouTube such as at the milk crate challenge [2], this is another example of the power of peer suggestion to motivate others at a distance to mimic or even one-up a particular behavior. What gives social media users the persuasive power to influence the behavior of complete strangers? Meanwhile, I am noticing a resurgence in concern about misinformation online. With the Delta variant of Covid-19 exacerbating the impact of this lasting Pandemic, many worry, including the President of the United States [3], that technology platforms are not doing enough to stop the flow of misinformation about the virus and about vaccines. YouTube's recent takedown of anti-vaccination propaganda [4] is a step in the right direction, but its long-term success as a solution to the algorithmic amplification of vaccine misinformation remains to be seen. Profit motivated tech companies make convenient targets for blame, and without a strong counter narrative, the reputation of computing as a field takes the hit.

Investigating the Effects of Misinformation as Infopathogens: Developing a Model and Thought Experiment

“…There has been increasing concern that deep fakes will result in an "infopocalypse" where truth cannot be discerned from fiction (Fallis 2020). The responsibilities of social media companies, the roles they play in potentially amplifying misinformation, and their societal impacts have been noted by other authors (Trim 2022;Reisach 2021). Given the profit motives of online media companies to use algorithms that feed users with polarized content irrespective of veracity, it is individual users who must take steps to discern the function and perhaps intent of presented content.…”