When I was a kid I loved watching Saturday morning cartoons, and among the cartoons and Schoolhouse Rock episodes were ads for the most amazing toys. These toys could do magical things on TV; but when you got them home, you realized it was just another car or doll. Even as a kid, you learned not to believe the commercials and to investigate more to find out the truth.
Today we’re facing a constant barrage of half-truths, whether through marketing you see while shopping online or the supposedly real videos and photos that show up on social media. It feels like the information pushers have become more crafty, but honestly there’s so much we’re hit with that at times it may be easier to just not deal with it. While much of the problem centers on politics, it also has an effect on your money through scams, too-good-to-be-true offers, or just simple claims about projected investment performance. How can you better protect yourself?
Prebunking
Prebunking is a technique used to prevent the spread of misinformation. It involves exposing people to small doses of false information, followed by a correction. This can be done through various means, such as fact-checking articles or social media posts, or providing accurate information through educational campaigns.
Advantages
Based on inoculation theory. Inoculation theory states that you can build a defense against manipulating information if you first learn more about it. By finding out that a particular lie has gained traction on the internet – or that a scam is circulating among your community – you may be less inclined to believe or act on what you read.
Tactics used. Prebunking can help reduce the spread of false information by making people more aware of the tactics used by those who spread it. Even if you’ve never heard about the particular lie, if you are on the lookout for people using emotion or fear to try to persuade you, you may be less likely to act on what you’re hearing.
Trust in institutions. Today there seems to be widespread mistrust in the institutions we once considered sacrosanct. If these institutions can demonstrate they are actively working to combat false information, people may regain some of the former faith in them.
Targeted information. Prebunking can be used to target specific groups of people. For example, it can be used to target people who are more likely to believe false information, such as those who are politically polarized or who have a history of falling for scams. By targeting these groups, prebunking can help to reduce the impact of false information on society as a whole.
Disadvantages
Spread of misinformation. Prebunking may actually reinforce the very misinformation it is trying to debunk. Studies have shown that repeating false information, even in an attempt to correct it, can make people more likely to believe it. This is known as the backfire effect.
Constant surveillance. Keeping on top of all the half-truths out there is time-consuming and resource-intensive. It requires constant monitoring of social media and news outlets to identify potential misinformation, and then crafting a response to counter it. This can be a significant drain on already thin resources.
Free speech concerns. Prebunking may be seen as an attack on free speech. While it is important to correct misinformation, some may see it as censorship or an attempt to silence opposing viewpoints.
Specific to money
I’m sure as you’ve read this, you’ve seen parallels to the financial world. One of the best ways to protect yourself against scams is to know about them before you find yourself in that situation.
Consider the recent bank failures. Silicon Valley Bank failed largely due to an online campaign urging people to remove their funds due to the bank’s financials. However, the news media both explained the situation and also how we can protect our accounts. When similar online campaigns arose at other banks, the rush to pull money wasn’t as severe.
Worries about AI
Unfortunately, past attempts at misinformation my seem ham-handed as AI rolls out in coming elections and begins to “aide” in marketing products to the general public. AI scholars are warning about deepfakes: videos and photos that seem to be real yet are published to harm a person or product. There are already tools in the market where you can fake someone’s voice or image to where most people would think it was real.
The future problems probably won’t focus on outrageous deepfakes; more likely, manipulators will attempt to move the needle slowly so most people don’t realize they’ve been taken in until too late.
Like most things in life, it’s up to you to determine the veracity of any claim you hear. One way to achieve this is to try to be exposed to more than one source of media and information, while also researching independently about a candidate, product, or investment opportunity.
Photo by Anna Shvets