Social media misinformation is breaking Americans. Here’s how to spot it and stamp it out.

AI, broken media, and negligent social media companies have made it easier than ever to reach millions of people with a big, fat lie. Don’t play into it. Here’s how to spot the misinformation.

In the last 20 days on Facebook, I’ve seen a photoshopped picture of Ryan Reynolds wearing a Kamala Harris t-shirt. An AI-generated image of a horse splashing in the surf during a full-on hurricane. A meme distorting the bio of Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance. And too many bogus stories about Olympic boxers and their gender to count. 

My friends on Facebook lean left, so the misinformation they’re sharing tends to boost a liberal point of view, but it takes two to do this dance.

Over on conservative Facebook, it’s as bad: The Olympics is a “woke” plot to end gender. Racist and sexist memes about Kamala Harris that lie about her accomplishments. A deep state plot to murder Trump. And, oh, more hurricane horses.

The only thing bringing us together is falsehoods and fake horses. 

I’m not drawing false equivalencies between the candidates. Donald Trump is an inherently dishonest person. He has no competition in that regard. But on social media, misinformation is an everybody problem. And it will take everybody contributing to solutions because, right now, the fake stuff on the internet seems to be outpacing the real stuff.

Polarization is real. Americans disagree on many things. But we can’t debate those differences on a bed of lies. There can be no good faith talk when there is no faith. 

Either social media—which gleefully profits from our outrage—is going to break America, or we’re going to break it. I like my neighbors and being able to talk to them more than I like Facebook, so I think it’s an easy choice. 

These bogus stories and photos—especially the political ones—are meant to manipulate us and make us despise each other. 

For years, American intelligence officials have been saying that bad actors, especially ones from within the Russian government, are using misinformation on social media to divide Americans. 

If you don’t trust American intelligence, trust your eyes and ears. If you were trying to make people angry at each other, could you think of a better way to do it than by flooding Facebook feeds with triggering content?

Now, more than ever, we need to examine our social media habits. We have to verify the information we’re getting, and especially the information we’re sharing. And, because it is the safest path, we have to be skeptical about every post on social media—no matter how innocuous or cute or viewpoint-affirming those posts might seem to be. 

Here are our tips to sorting out the misinformation and making your profile a “safe space” for truth:

• Firstly, don’t share something unless you verify it.
• If you don’t have the time or inclination for that, don’t share things from sources you don’t know. Remember “stranger danger?” It’s that multiplied by 10 on the internet.
• If something fits a little too perfectly into a political narrative, even if you agree with that political narrative, consider it a red flag. Take a second or a third look at it. Somebody might be trying to wind you up. Real life rarely fits into a neat, canned political narrative.
• If an image or a story seems “too good to be true,” or too wild, put on your skeptic’s hat and look into it. If someone shares a Mark Twain quote that seems to be addressing the 2024 election, be smart. That guy died 114 years ago — and he was good, but not that good.  
• Watch out for the knee jerk reaction. Even if it’s based on good information, you’re not really convincing anyone by calling them a name. And if you’re basing it on bad information, you’ll just end up apologizing to everyone afterward.
• Don’t be afraid to tell your friend their source seems suspect, preferably in a polite way. Unless they’re a jerk, they’ll probably appreciate it. Even if they disagree with you politically, they might appreciate your candor because, while we might not be able to agree on much, nobody likes being lied to.
• Find out the political leanings of your source. Be wary if someone hides those leanings. If someone cooked you a stew, you’d probably ask what’s in it. Same thing. 
• You can usually report the misinformation to the social media network. Most networks have a function for doing so. It doesn’t mean they’ll do anything about it, but they might, and it can’t hurt.

For more tips on spotting misinformation, check out this easy four-step method.

And, if all else fails, just sign off.

Think of social media like you would real life interactions. If you met someone for a beer or a coffee, and they told you lies and called you names, you’d use the door. That’s what it’s there for.