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To combat false and misleading information
it can be useful to recognize the different shapes it can take.
Here are five common forms of mis- and disinformation
to look out for.
FABRICATED
A story or claim that is fictional is called fabricated content.
People can invent stories for political reasons
but the most common motive is money.
A website's owner benefits from the advertising that appears
beside their content.
The more clicks they get, the more money they make.
IMPOSTER
Imposter sites try to fool people by imitating credible news organizations.
The URL and logo of a well-known site may be changed just a little
so people believe they are looking at the real thing.
The goal is to mislead people
into trusting and sharing faulty information.
CLICKBAIT
A click bait headline is designed to provoke enough curiosity
the people can't resist clicking to find out more.
Click bait can spark interest by using exaggeration,
emotional language, or creating suspense.
The reason behind click bait is to earn money from ads.
MANIPULATED
Manipulated content is real information that is altered to change its meaning,
such as a photo or video that is made
to depict something not shown in the original.
Visuals are immediate and tend to appeal more strongly to our emotions than words,
so it's an easy way for misleading information to spread.
FALSE CONTEXT
False context is when a real photo is paired with an inaccurate story.
This is one of the most common forms of mis- and disinformation.
An unaltered image can easily become misleading
with the addition of a false headline or description.
Knowing the vocabulary of information pollution
is an important step in becoming skilled information consumers.
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