Evaluating misinformation education tools

Rumor Guard

Is the post real or fake? Too many people today are making social media posts that are 100% false but present them as real. There are many people trying to help filter the real from the fake. Rumorguard.org is one of those trying to help.  

This site takes new popular posts and applies a simple 5-question test to each of them. Is it authentic? Has it been posted or confirmed by a credible source? Is there evidence that proves the claim? Is the context accurate? Is it based on solid reasoning?. These 5 questions tell them if something is real or is it a rumor. When you read an article, these are the things each of us should be saying to ourselves to determine if something is real. This is extremely effective at teaching people how to figure out if it’s real. Take this post about Trump. It explains what they got for each of the 5 questions in this case against an altered image of Trump. They were able to check the sources the post claimed the photos came from, and it doesn’t exist. This is something each of us could do, so i think its effectiveness at teaching is huge since it explains its reasoning for why something is fake.

I think this site is an extremely effective tool to help eradicate misinformation. It’s a very fast check to see if something is real; it only takes a few seconds to determine

Get Bad News

I played all the games and didn’t like any of them… the last one I did, I went the furthest: “Get bad news”. This site is a game where you are trying to spread false information and make it as real as possible to get the most followers out of it. It gives options to post, and if you want, you can skip a few to get the most emotional response possible to gain the most followers from it.

This is a decent teaching aid. I think one of the worst issues with this is that it’s not meant for our age. This game feels more geared towards toes in middle or high school, maybe in a school class about misinformation. There is a lot of plot for a game that is teaching misinformation. I would have found a game where you point out why something is misinformation as a better alternative. These games are just too boring to play. Taking away from its educational value.

While I may not like the game I do think there is value in it. A younger age may be able to learn effectively how misinformation is made which will help end its spread.  There is a European article that is all about countering disinformation through games. One of the most important aspects was that it should be neutral and not try to sway the player toward an ideal. 

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