I do not think that most people sign up for social media accounts with the intention to critically evaluate media. For myself, I signed up for most platforms in middle and high school with the intention to stay connected with friends and family. Over the years, my interests have changed and so has the way I use social media. Now, I often read news articles linked from social media. When I am reading an article, I always check the date and author. If I am not familiar with a story, then I will Google the topic to verify the information. My process and experience is very different from the people I am friends with on Facebook.
Past experiences with “the grandmother problem”:
I regularly get messages from family with either factually correct or misinformed articles. When my mom had started sending me incorrect articles, I told her not to believe everything she reads on Facebook. I told her to try the methods I use, before instantly believing what pops up in her feed. She has made a lot of progress, and now mostly shares local news that’s been covered by a few organizations.
Future experiences with “the grandmother problem”:
I am able to be honest and blunt with my family because they know that I care for them and wouldn’t want to hurt them. Friends and acquaintances are a little harder to approach. If I were to approach someone that I was not as comfortable with, I would be fearful of hurting their feelings, which seems to be a similar fear for people telling someone they are wrong. I would also be fearful that someone would hold on tighter to the misinformation and ignore me. So, what would I do?
If it is someone I don’t see in person often, I would send them a message asking them how they found the article to be factually correct. If they were to claim that it is factual because it is from a specific news organization, then I would offer them links to other articles that are factually correct so that they could compare the information on their own. I would encourage them to give an article an evaluation and slow down before hitting the share button.
I’m not perfect, but I am much more mindful about what I share, and I believe that is a practice that would be beneficial for everyone on social media.
