Introduction to CTRL-F with Jane Lytvynenko and Mike Caulfield

Summary

Jane, a senior disinformation reporter with BuzzFeed News, shares insights from her three-and-a-half-year investigation into hoaxes, conspiracies, and online misinformation. In this series, she introduces three key skills to help users investigate information online, while digital literacy expert Mike Caulfield demonstrates practical techniques to distinguish fact from fiction. Jane emphasizes that misinformation often spreads through emotional reactions, urging viewers to pause and verify information before sharing. Rather than analyzing a single page or image in isolation, she encourages exploring broader online context. The series equips viewers with practical skills to build confidence in evaluating credibility quickly and effectively.

Takeaways

• 😀 Investigating disinformation involves digging into clues found on social media to uncover who's behind the hoaxes and how they spread.
• 😀 Disinformation often triggers strong emotional reactions, which makes people more likely to share the false information with others.
• 😀 It's crucial to pause and verify information before sharing it, especially when it evokes strong emotions like anger or excitement.
• 😀 A traditional approach to media literacy focuses on analyzing documents or images closely to determine their truthfulness, but this script suggests a different method.
• 😀 Instead of staying on the page or image, it's more effective to leave the source and see what others are saying about it online.
• 😀 The web is filled with both harmless and harmful misinformation, with the latter sometimes having serious consequences.
• 😀 The goal is not absolute certainty but confidence in making decisions about the credibility of information.
• 😀 It’s possible to learn how to evaluate information critically in a short amount of time, even without achieving perfect certainty.
• 😀 A key skill to develop is digital literacy, which helps people discern fact from fiction in the overwhelming amount of content online.
• 😀 Mike Caulfield, a digital literacy expert, demonstrates simple but powerful techniques to help users sort fact from fiction effectively.

Q & A

Who is Jane and what is her area of expertise?

Jane is a senior disinformation reporter with BuzzFeed News, specializing in investigating hoaxes, conspiracies, misinformation, and disinformation.

What has Jane been doing for the past three and a half years?

She has been investigating disinformation by analyzing clues on social media, connecting them, and identifying who is behind the spread of false information.

What will the video series introduce to viewers?

The series will introduce three key skills for investigating information online, helping viewers sort fact from fiction and determine credibility.

Who is Mike Caulfield and what role does he play in the series?

Mike Caulfield is a digital literacy expert who will demonstrate simple but effective methods for applying the investigative skills taught in the series.

Why does misinformation spread effectively?

Misinformation spreads effectively because it triggers heightened emotions like anxiety, anger, panic, or extreme elation, prompting people to share it quickly.

What is Jane's advice when encountering a message online that evokes a strong emotional reaction?

She advises pausing and quickly verifying the information, such as by Googling it, before sharing it with friends, family, or followers.

How does the approach in this series differ from traditional media literacy teachings?

Instead of focusing solely on analyzing a single document, photo, or webpage, the approach encourages exploring the wider web to see what other sources say about the information.

Is it necessary to achieve absolute certainty when investigating information online?

No, achieving absolute certainty is difficult and ongoing. The goal is to gain enough confidence to make informed decisions about the information.

What types of online content can contain misinformation?

Misinformation can appear in news articles, memes, videos, photos, and social media posts.

Can the skills taught in this series be learned quickly?

Yes, Jane emphasizes that the skills to investigate information and make confident decisions online can be learned in a short amount of time.

What is the potential impact of seemingly harmless online content?

While some content like fake recipes or photoshopped images may be harmless, other misinformation can be serious and even dangerous, influencing beliefs and actions.