SEATTLE — Along with COVID-19, an upcoming Presidential Election, and nationwide protests, the World Health Organization declared we are also facing an “Infodemic" - A huge wave of misinformation making it hard to discern facts from fiction. Where is it coming from and how do we stop it?
Dr. Kate Starbird is an Associate Professor of Human Centered Design and Engineering at the University of Washington & Co-founder of the UW Center for an Informed Public. She’s spent more than a decade researching human behavior and how information flows during crisis events. Her research centers on how people use social media or information-communication technologies to seek out and make sense of what's happening during crisis events and man-made disasters.
We talked with Dr. Starbird about misinformation and its spread, why it spikes during crisis events, and what we can do to fight it. Follow @katestarbird on Twitter for ongoing research and updates.
Learn more about how to fight misinformation
>> Twitter Thread from @katestarbird on on taking care around misinformation/disinformation in regards to protests
>> Use the SIFT Technique, pioneered by Mike Caulfied: Stop, Investigate the source, Find better coverage, and Trace claims, quotes, and media to the original coverage.
>> Learn to understand collective sense making during times of uncertainty and anxiety
>> Learn to understand how bad actors influence both sides of a conflict in order to create chaos: The Surprising Nuance Behind the Russian Troll Strategy
Segment Producer Dawn Boughton. Watch New Day Northwest 11 AM weekdays on KING 5 and streaming live on KING5.com. Contact New Day.