If this hasn't taught people not to trust "sources" of news then what will??

[linerforlife]

Bit of a rant really but we have been in this pandemic nearly two years. Why can't the vast majority of my friends and family learn not to trust Facebook sources of news, or even just how to interpret news/sources of info? Latest example is my mother who has decided she's SUPPOSED to have an alternative vaccine for her booster to the ones she had for her first two doses. I said, no, that's not NHS policy - you get whichever they have (Pfizer or Moderna for booster). There's some benefits to having AZ if you've only had Pfizer so far etc so it's fine if you have a different one, but it isn't NHS policy to give you an alternative. She's then sent me American website links saying you should have an alternative - when I said yep, they're American pages though she says she didn't realise? My friends and family throughout the last two years seem unable to tell when a website belongs to a crack pot conspiracy theorist, or is just opinion they've heard on the radio vs fact etc. They're intelligent people though. Do you think interpreting news sources on the web should be taught at school? It's quite an important skill. I'm not being haughty, I'm sure I get caught out sometimes too!!

Yanbu.

I just got a promoted tweet on Twitter from “meta” telling me how to spot misinformation 🙄.

I think it’s up to the publishers and those who host these “news” stories to delete and ban accounts spewing crap. There needs to be better moderation and catching tools or disclaimers with every post saying to be careful.

At the same time, of course people should learn how to spot fake news, but that’s a learning journey. My dd is 14 and is beginning to read things online..explaining to her that a lot of things are fake stories has been an eye opener for her. I’ve had over 20 years of experience on the web. I can tell a fake story on SM or even on MN straightaway (thanks to youth wasted on Yahoo Chats).

My MIL wouldn’t take medication that was prescribed by GP after reading the side effects from the leaflets with tablets. She only had the flu jab when they had her in for something else.

We have a government that has repeatedly told us not to trust experts, and often ignore them themselves. Many millions of people fell for their rhetoric. Add to that the flip flopping between different lines, and now those people don't know who to trust. Except 'Boris' of course, he's still 'doing his best'.

Because humans are rubbish at understanding and discerning truth.

Facebook etc have just replaced village gossip. People used to talk about how Mrs Miggins from the house donw the lane controlled their minds with witchcraft. Now they think it's via small chips injected with vaccines.

@Mindymomo

My MIL wouldn’t take medication that was prescribed by GP after reading the side effects from the leaflets with tablets. She only had the flu jab when they had her in for something else.

Side effects in the actual leaflet aren’t false information though. So your MIL isn’t believing something that isn’t true, she’s just either not understanding the size of the risk of the side effect actually happening, or not appreciating the risk/benefit of taking the medication vs not. The leaflet that comes with medication isn’t a source that shouldn’t be trusted. But it does need to be properly understood.

Which sources would you have them believe?

The Time ran a story yesterday headlined "90% of ICU patients admitted with covid are unvaccinated". It's based on data from July, when the vaccination figures were completely different. The current proportion is more like 35%. So basically, unless we analyse the raw data ourselves (and the ONS releases only partial information), we don't really know.

The whole thing is a shit show.