Credit to Michaela Manfull

Social media is a digital space where people can speak freely, communicate in real time and share ideas. It’s also a place where misinformation can spread just as quickly as the truth. Figuring out what and who to trust can be difficult.

“I used to think that social media was, and perhaps to some degree it was, educating the populace, making more information available more quickly,” Metro columnist at the St. Louis Post Dispatch Tony Messenger said. “But these days, I find that the disinformation on social media is hard to overcome.”

Battling misinformation is a challenge for both politicians and journalists, voters and media consumers – especially in today’s political climate.

Messenger shared an example of how journalists can’t just provide the correct information, but also have to address misinformation to further explain the facts.

“Some Republicans are trying to say that [the abortion amendment] would legalize transgender surgeries,” Messenger said. “The amendment has nothing to do with that, but if you write about it, you almost have to address the disinformation that’s out there and explain to people what the actual wording of the amendment is and with the details that are out there. Saying look, this is what this is actually about, this is the history of this debate, etc.”

Every day, millions of people are exposed to false information. Deciding what to trust can be confusing. That goes for both the reader and the candidate seeking to connect with those potential voters.

“People believe that one moment on social media is going to make or break a candidate,” House Minority Leader in the Iowa House of Representatives and Associate Professor at Drake University’s journalism school Jennifer Konfrst said. “It is easier to break the candidate on social media in one moment, but voters have very short memories.”

Konfrst went on to say that it’s less likely one thing is going to destroy or make a candidate. Voters pay attention based on a viral moment, but they don’t typically vote that way.

“What happens is, generally, the message that you’re trying to achieve as a candidate can get lost, and that’s unfortunate,” House Representative for Missouri District 106 Travis Wilson said.

Right now, the way that the social media algorithm works is that it will see that a person likes a post, say it’s a funny cat video, and it will start showing them more of that same content. The social media company will get more revenue because they stay on the platform longer while they will be content with their doomscrolling, being fed the same kinds of posts over and over again.

Take another look at that scenario, but trade out the funny cat videos for posts from only one political viewpoint. What a viewer likes and agrees with continues to show up in their feed weeding out any opposing or challenging ideas. This is what so many people go through every day, intentionally or not. Soon a person’s feed is filled with everyone who agrees with them. This is the algorithm at work. This is great when they want to see more cat videos, but when the information is misinterpreted or simply incorrect, the algorithm pushes misinformation which turns out to be the opposite.

While all social media platforms have their pros and cons, some social media platforms can be worse than others when it comes to spreading mis- and disinformation.

“I used to use Twitter very effectively, not only to communicate with people, but to get my columns out and to read other information that I care about,” Messenger said. “Right now, that is really hard to do because the algorithm is so broken and there is so much intentional disinformation on that network in particular, and I’m sure on most of the social media networks. It’s just not a place where there is much constructive conversation these days.”

This poses an issue for everyone, regardless of political viewpoint and how often they even talk about politics with others. Misinformation on social media isn’t typically directly from politicians. While it can be, as it can be from anyone, most politicians work to make sure that they are spreading truthful information and educating voters in the right ways.

“Everything should be taken with a grain of salt,” Konfrst said. “As a consumer of social media, you know that you’re only getting a little part of the story. Misinformation has a big role, but as practitioners, I really emphasize the importance of being ethical communicators who are honest, who are not misleading voters and who are telling the story in a way that voters can easily contextualize. That’s not driven to confuse or mislead voters, but is rather driven by informing them.”

Sometimes misinformation isn’t just incorrect, but can be misinterpreted without the full context or intended tone. In the end, a lot is left up to the way a person reads what has been said or posted.

“I think it’s important to have people see that we’re real people,” Konfrst said. “And the more relatable we can be, I think the more the more young voters who might be skeptical of the process will see that we’re just normal people who are working for the cause.

These candidates are also capitalizing on social media trends.

“If we’re trying to reach younger voters where they are on Tiktok, on Instagram, and doing it in a way that’s authentic and trying not to seem posed or like we’re trying too hard,” Konfrst said.

Some still prefer to knock on doors to reach their target audience.

“I’m out trying to communicate directly with voters and ask for their votes in person,” Wilson said. “Also, doing things like sending information through the mail directly to their homes. That sort of thing, I think, is much more personable and much more direct to the actual constituent.”

No matter what approach a politician takes, there will always be people who pay attention only to whether the candidates are “red” or “blue”.

“What we have run into in this current political climate is you either agree with me or you’re just a terrible person, and really nothing could be further from the truth,” Wilson said. “The Democrats in the House are human beings, just like I am. They want to work hard for the people they represent, just like I do. We happen to disagree on a few things. Guess what? There’s also a fair amount of things that we do agree on, and that’s where the good work gets done for the people of Missouri. Social media can dilute that positive momentum and keep good people from being able to perform their jobs.”

Nobody wants to be misrepresented. Even with a shared hope to stop misinformation, there’s little chance that it is going to go away anytime soon. There are things that everyone can be aware of while posting and consuming information on social media to help lessen the spread and stay educated. Readers need to look for the full story and gather more context for what they’re seeing.

“[Social media is] not a place where it seems you can find important, accurate information,” Messenger said. “I think that it affects the election in a negative way and I hope voters can rise above it.”