Nobody is immune to misinformation.

Disinformation is when information and ideas are spread on purpose – Brian Murphy has described the definition as having the following aspects: “a covert indirect source, intentionality that is destructive, and a political, military, or economic objective” — the intentionality is part of it. Misinformation is passed along often unwittingly out of what researchers say is often just human habit.

Sharing of misinformation is habitual, not just lazy or biased, Gizem Ceylan, Ian A. Anderson, and Wendy Wood, Edited by Susan Fiske, Princeton University; received September 28, 2022; accepted December 3, 2022, January 17, 2023 120 (4) e2216614120 Due to the reward-based learning systems on social media, users form habits of sharing information that attracts others’ attention. Once habits form, information sharing is automatically activated by cues on the platform without users considering response outcomes such as spreading misinformation. As a result of user habits, 30 to 40% of the false news shared in our research was due to the 15% most habitual news sharers.

False medical information is unfortunately very common. Habitual news sharers need to slow down and engage in critical thinking before sharing information to avoid passing on problematic or completely inaccurate information. We’ve all shared things before verifying at times. Yet most of us recognize it’s a problem.

JAMA on instagram - Image text: Misinformation is a major problem. The spread of misinformation is a concern for US adults across age, gender, education, and partisanship. 86% of adults say the spread of false and inaccurate information generally is a major problem 74% of adults say the spread of false and inaccurate information about health issues is a major problem Percent who think the following are not doing enough or doing about the right amount to limit the spread of health misinformation: Almost 80% think Congress is not doing enough and over 10% think Congress is doing the right amount. Around 70% think the US news media is not doing enough and less than 20% think the US news media is doing the right amount. Over 60% think Social media is not doing enough and around 10% think Social media is doing the right amount. Over 60% think President Biden is not doing enough and 20% think President Biden is doing the right amount. — JAMA on instagram – Image text: Misinformation is a major problem. The spread of misinformation is a concern for US adults across age, gender, education, and partisanship. 86% of adults say the spread of false and inaccurate information generally is a major problem 74% of adults say the spread of false and inaccurate information about health issues is a major problem Percent who think the following are not doing enough or doing about the right amount to limit the spread of health misinformation: Almost 80% think Congress is not doing enough and over 10% think Congress is doing the right amount. Around 70% think the US news media is not doing enough and less than 20% think the US news media is doing the right amount. Over 60% think Social media is not doing enough and around 10% think Social media is doing the right amount. Over 60% think President Biden is not doing enough and 20% think President Biden is doing the right amount.

One big problem seems to be the effect of passing on medical information that amounts to misinformation on the receiving end because it’s meant for a scientific interest audience as speculative conjecture, but then received by the actual audience as personal medical advice. And then to make matters worse, this is then used by bad actors to push products or ideas.

A Behind the Bastards podcast about William Bailey told the story of how Marie Curie went around hyping excitement about radiation — and then a bunch of grifters like William Bailey used that hype to scam people with radiation “cures” that harmed and killed people desperate for treatment for various ailments, by giving them radiation poisoning.

Unfortunately today there are even more insidious incentives for doctor pundits and scientist influencers to disregard science communication best practices and succumb to audience capture. Others actors in the information space are up to influence for financial motives.

It’s up to all of us now to keep these truths in mind when consuming media content.