Your 8 second misinformation campaign

Misinformation: False information that is spread, regardless of whether there is intent to mislead.

Mark Twain allegedly once said:

If you don’t read the newspapers, you are uninformed. If you do read them, you are misinformed."

There is no proof that Mark Twain said or wrote this. But it’s a useful expression, with a strong grain of truth. These days you can replace the term "newspapers" with "anything online".

In many ways, we are living in the age of misinformation. Combine fake news and social media algorithms, and we are more vulnerable to wrong information than ever before.

And, in my opinion, we are less equipped to deal with it than ever before. What do you do when a question comes up? You google it. And you usually pick the first answer at the top of the search results.

We think we’re informed, but we’ve never learned to think critically.

Misinformation example 1: the power of repetition

You google some concept or phrase or question. You find many articles from different sources. But they repeat the same content almost word for word.

News flash: If you write 2 + 2 = 5 a hundred times, it will not change the fact that the maths is wrong.

I want to share the example that triggered this week’s topic.

Note that the following statement is wrong (in case you are skimming and not reading): Statement: Our attention span has decreased over the years to only 8 seconds, which is less than that of a goldfish.

I’ve found this quoted as a research-based fact on sites like Time.com.

If you search for "how short is your attention span", Google produces this question and answer combination: Q: How short is a person’s attention span? A: A recent study found that the average human attention span has fallen from 12 seconds in 2000 to eight seconds today.

It’s a shocking statement – and a wonderful excuse for poor performance. No wonder it gets repeated over and over again. But it’s not true.

(This one annoys me so much that I created the cartoon on this post from a free image. I know, I shouldn’t quit my day job to write cartoons.)

Misinformation example 2: the missing person spam

In the interests of accuracy, this example is not a recent experience for me. But it’s happened often enough that it might be a recent experience for you.

I have some acquaintances who don’t think before they share. A photo of a young girl (usually) and a scary caption that she is missing? They share it with everyone they know. I appreciate their desire to help. But you need less than a minute to verify that it is true. Often it’s fake or outdated.

Sharing before you check may make you guilty of both misinformation and spam. Ignorance is no excuse.

Misinformation is not disinformation

Disinformation is the deliberate distribution of misinformation. It’s when you distribute wrong information with the intent to deceive.

I like to believe that most of us have good intentions. But you’ve heard the idiom – the road to hell is paved with good intentions. (FYI: that’s just an expression, not a statement of fact.)

I have written this with the best intentions. But you should check whether what I wrote is accurate.

What do you think? I’d love to hear your comments.