CEO Life / Information pollution in the post-truth era

Information pollution in the post-truth era

Levent, something like this is circulating on social media. Is it true?" For the last 4-5 years, I have been receiving a similar message from my friends at least once or twice a month, almost. There is a social media post, in which they refer to my expertise or knowledge, as attached thereto. Let me tell you this, the overwhelming majority of the messages sent contain either non-scientific and unrealistic or manipulative propositions. People have always explained the facts, of which they could not figure out the reason, through mythology, or they have filled the knowledge gaps in such manner. Today, social media, on the other hand, emerges as a medium that feeds the contemporary mythology.

We live in a world where everyone believes what the other says and confirms what is shared, and in which the number of "Mumpsimuses" increases geometrically. Just as I was thinking so, I found a report, which demonstrated me that this was not the case, and which set my mind at rest.

Avoiding the News

The Reuters Institute draws up a digital news report each year in cooperation with the Oxford University. The report for 2022 was published in June. The development that caught my attention the most was the result that we can state as "The number of persons who avoid the news is increasing day by day". The report highlights the fact that the rate of those who follow the news through the social media has reached 62 percent, however, that those who do not rely news obtained from the social media is about 54 percent, which is really high.

On the other hand, the rate of reliability on the news followed through the social media is higher and is about 48 percent for those who are older than 55. This rate decreases to 28 percent in young persons aged 18-24 years old. The decrease in the interest in traditional media forces us to think about the new concepts which social media has brought into our lives. Although the research states that the greatest unreliability when following social media is because of the news about COVID-19 due to the conjuncture, it is a globally accepted fact that fake or false news affects the economic life at most and damages the brands.

Information Corruption

We refer to fake or false news as "information pollution", or "disinformation" as it is known globally. However, the academics, who consider the information pollution, assess this concept of information corruption under three separate headings in terms of the intention behind it and the results that it causes:

Disclosure of any information hastily without needing to verify it (good faith + error) is defined as misinformation, and disclosure of false information in order to hurt others (false information + bad faith) is defined as disinformation, and disclosure of any correct information, which is required to be kept confidential, for damaging purpose (true information + bad faith) is defined as malinformation.

On the other hand, since the activity is measured by the number of viewers and interactions on the social media, all these different concepts of information corruption might appear side by side or in a manner that they have mixed with each other with respect to any event that is unknowingly shared by the same person.

The negative impact of the news shared on the social media is experienced in many fields, especially in the sectors regulated.

Although the owners of the social media platforms have taken various measures in recent years in order to prevent this information corruption, it is very difficult to prevent spread of the fake or false information. Even in the condition that they enhance their measures, the social media users also need to better themselves about the digital literacy and to be more careful about their posts.

I think that everyone needs to accept that we live in a world, which is called "post-truth" or the reality after the truth, i.e. in an environment in which the standards for understanding the truth disappear and in which the opinions and beliefs are mixed with each other, and to act accordingly.

Resources: Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2022, Teyit.org articles