GNED 500

Summary

What do you know about social media and disinformation after reading this module? As great as social media can be for connecting people, it is also a means to influence people—even without their knowledge. We are profiled on social media. That “consumer intelligence” is sold and used. When distorted or untrue information is intentionally placed on social media to disrupt elections and major policy decisions, it threatens democracy. Disinformation, fake news and deepfakes are everywhere online. It’s up to you, the user, to look critically at the content you are seeing, check the facts, and resist being manipulated by your own biases. See the additional materials for ways that social media can be used to give communities a political voice, without the need for disinformation. The Social Action section later in this textbook will also provide more examples of social media being used for social good