The internet has always demanded readers put on their bullshit goggles and take what they read with a pinch of salt. Anyone can publish websites, videos or social posts. We’re operating in an environment with low guardrails around the truth.  
 
In the 90s, forums gave a voice to people who wanted to shed light on their experiences or beliefs, and groups including cults like Heaven’s Gate could host websites to recruit new members, espousing all kinds of falsehoods and manipulation. And it ended… not well! 

Misinformation has lately been rife, often a feature, not a bug. Media literacy has always been crucial, but particularly so with today’s online culture. People need discernment and critical thinking to navigate the abundance of deepfakes, AI slop and increasingly divisive propaganda shared online. Without it, they risk getting seriously lost.  

Bad news. New studies are showing that reliance on AI to perform day-to-day tasks is degrading its users’ critical thinking abilities. For readers who are clinging on to these cognitive skills, each piece of unverifiable, uncited, unfounded information is an assault on their ability to trust in content. 

Some scepticism is healthy. It’s not healthy or natural to believe everything we read, see or hear. But too much distrust can lead us to avoidance, disengagement, even hostility.  

So, what can we do about it? 

It’s up to us as writers, editors, videographers, podcasters and the like to create the kind of content that educates people and sparks ideas – content that builds trust through understanding. We need to ask ourselves: are we feeding our audiences or the algorithms? Are we providing verified sources for the claims that we make? Are we creating content that is helping, not harming, our readers? 

These are the questions that sense-making content creators must ask themselves, so that readers don’t have to. 

Until next time, 

The Collective Content Team 

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Word of the Moment: Malcompetence

Where incompetence and malice meet. LinkedIn user James Bore writes “A case where incompetence has gone beyond being simply frustrating and into active damage. Suggests active continuance of the incompetence where there are alternatives available.”