MISINFORMATION
Over the years, the world has evolved from merely being decentralized to being a global village due to the explosion of technology and mass media, which in turn has installed change to a variety of things including communication and man’s comprehension of informative news.
Communication can be said to be the imparting or exchanging of information by speaking, writing, or using some other medium. Comprehension on the other hand is best defined as capacity of the mind to perceive and understand.
Thus, we can as well conclude that for misinformation to occur at any point, then the arbitrary method of communication is incomprehensive or misconstrued.
The emergence of online digital journalism dates back to the 1990s and its full consumption has ever since been embraced by the growing media and technology, leading to the full-blown outsourcing of information on search engines as well as sites.
Generally In our present day, news is often overemphasized, resulting to ambiguous or false information being sucked in by the audience through the media. More often than not, satirical and sketchy news takes over the media thus causing a burst of misinformed news across the globe.Through this, misinformation is birthed.
Misinformation can be said to be an incorrect or misleading information unintentionally presented as fact which is contrast to disinformation which simply connotes a deliberate act of deception. False information is dangerous because of its ability to affect public opinion.
There are several cognitive factors that contribute to the dissemination of wrong information. There are times misinformation is rather misleading than entirely false. For instance, trusting an unreferenced source could lead to spreading misinformation unintentionally.
It is less shocking at the revelation that the most efficient vector to the spread of misinformation is social media. The digital space and social media can contribute to the spread of misinformation when users distribute data without confirming its source and the legitimacy of the information they have found.
Furthermore, misguided opinions can lead to the unintentional spread of misinformation, where individuals do not intend on spreading false knowledge.
Historically, people have depended on journalists and other information professionals to relay facts and validities but time and age has made credibility of information somewhat complicated to confirm. Many online sources of misinformation use techniques to fool users into thinking their sites are legitimate and the information they generate is factual.
If strictly adhered to, the following are promising ways to reduce the spread and circulation of false information; A much important first step is to fact-check all disseminated information before sharing. The digital and online space is understood to be a platform where both factual and nonfactual details are uploaded. This,thus facts should be double checked and. sources confirmed. Online accountability can be strengthened. This can be done through firm real-name registrations. This makes it easier to hold individuals accountable for what they post or disseminate online and also stops people from hiding behind fake names
Before consuming online contents hook, line and sinker, always view every information with caution and make due findings before dissemination. Tech companies can come up with inventions that are quick to pick out fake news. To reduce fake news, its visibility must be reduced. Everyone has a responsibility to combat the scourge of fake news.
