For Chloe Baumgartner, Pinnacle photographer and sophomore, seeing misinformation on social media is a regular occurrence and one that she finds annoying.

“A bunch of stuff I’ve seen on Instagram, I’ve been like, oh my gosh, wait, that’s so cool, this celebrity is doing something, and then later someone’s like ‘this is completely fake,’” she said. “In the comments or in the description, someone (says it was) made up on AI or this person’s been not even in the same area.”

But Baumgartner isn’t alone in her feelings on constant misinformation. According to a 2024 Pew Research Center survey, Americans who say inaccuracy is the aspect they dislike most about getting information from social media has grown from 31% to 40% in the past five years.

Terri Ramos, Department Chair for Media and Communications said that she encourages people to consider what they’re consuming, especially in light of a shift in more false information.

“I think what it boils down to is that you always need to be the consumer of that information, right, no matter what it is,” Ramos said. “It doesn’t matter whatever information is out there, you need to be the consumer, and as that consumer you need to stop and ask the questions. If you’re not asking the questions and you’re just assuming that what you have in front of you is correct, then that’s on you.”

Forms of Misinformation

Bernadette (Bernie) Schultz, CHTV member and sophomore said that she often sees misinformation appear in people editing photos or not fact-checking what they see.

“I see people taking a video they saw on TikTok or Instagram and using that as fact without looking into it,” Schultz said via email. 

Baumgartner, a member of the Pinnacle Yearbook staff has used photo editing software to alter photos.

“I have (edited a photo) for yearbook,” she said. “We have to, most of the time, run our pictures through Photoshop or Photo Editor on Adobe and we a lot of times brighten them up or fix the lighting or get rid of an arm that’s covering someone’s face.”

Baumgartner said this has made her realize how easy it is to spread misinformation.

“Seeing (photo editing) firsthand how easy it is to change photos and how accessible certain platforms are makes me think about how easy that is for other people to change things on the internet,” she said.

She said that this has made her think more crucially about what she sees online and if it is true.

AI

For Ramos, AI images and AI generated content has made it more difficult to discern misinformation. However, Baumgartner said she feels it is fairly easy to tell what photos are AI generated.

“I was looking at pictures for an art class today, and all of the ones that were AI, you could instantly tell that they were AI, just because a lot of the face ones are overly humanized, super shiny, or the features are super defined,” Baumgartner said.

Ramos said that she sees AI as having a huge impact on misinformation in the media. 

“You can literally be looking at a speech that you think former President Obama is giving, and he never said any of those words,” Ramos said. 

Ramos said she hopes that in light of AI, people turn to traditional ways of getting information, like journalists.

“I mean, my hope is in them because I think there are still enough qualified journalists if people turn to them and look at what they have to say, especially those who behave ethically,” she said. “You know, then you’re going to get your best information. So I think journalists could play a huge role in helping us manage all of this.”

Strategies

According to a 2024 Pew Research Center study, adults under 30 have a preference for using social media instead of news outlets to get opinions on an issue (36% vs. 13%). 

With so many people getting their information from social media platforms, Schultz said making sure something on social media is real is very important.

“It’s important to know the difference (between true and false) because we don’t want to spread panic because of misinformation,” Schultz said.

Schultz said that when she comes across impactful news, she often does her own research to see what is really going on. 

Baumgartner said that she checks with friends and family to make sure something is real or goes and researches in another tab.

“Depending on what the situation is, I will text people that I know and be like, hey, have you heard about this? Does this make sense to you?” Baumgartnerer said. “Or I’ll go to other platforms on social media and fact-check myself before I 100% believe it.”

Ramos said that she encourages students to learn strategies for discerning what is true and what is false. She said that students should practice lateral reading, where they open up a new tab and verify information. She also said she encourages learning acronyms to help.

“One of the easiest ways to teach yourself is one of these acronyms,” Ramos said. “There’s SIFT, for example, there’s RAVEN, there’s CRAAP. Basically you’re looking at the currency, the timeliness, the authority of who’s speaking.”

Ramos also said she encourages students to try to be even just a little more informed.

“Maybe you’re not going to do it every single article you look at (or) maybe every piece of information but if once a day you’re trying to find what;s right, then you’re doing a better job than most,” she said.

Making sure not to spread misinformation

Ramos said that she sees spreading misinformation in the echochamber of social media poses threats to having an informed public, so it is important to verify information. 

“We live in a vacuum, right? We’re not seeing other viewpoints,” she said. “And then you have to consider if whatever it is that does reach you (is) true or not true? Okay, so when you look at all of those things that need to happen, and what you’re saying is the importance of media literacy on an informed citizenry, that makes our democracy work. Our democracy is in peril because people are not using their minds to really dig into the information that they’re given.”

Baumgartner said that she agrees on the importance of verifying before sharing important information, especially if it comes from social media. She said she encourages people to think before they repost.

“Don’t start spreading this rumor,” Baumgartner said. “(And) don’t believe everything you see on the internet.”