Blog Post #11- The Illusionary Truth Effect

The spread of information has changed drastically over the past decade or so. We rely less on the evening news and more on the quick blurb of information that we receive from the news app on our iPhone. Even that isn't the main source of information and news today; information comes flowing from social media apps and websites at an insane rate. It makes sense. Constant flow of information to our fingertips at any time of the day or night. It is true 24/7 news, but this comes with risks. One of these risks is consistently consuming false information, which happens more often on social media platforms. 

There is a theory called the Illusionary Truth Effect. This is the theory that when people consistently consume or receive false information, they will start to believe it. While it is a theory, I believe this is quite true. There are endless examples of fake news being spread across social media and even some credible news sources where the masses were convinced that the news was true. It was quite surprising for me to learn that we have been conditioned by these media sources to believe what we hear multiple times. This is actually a tactic that's used by businesses in commercials to make us believe in whatever they are selling and persuade us to purchase it. 

The Illusionary Truth Effect can be a much more serious issue. For example, if the government were to pump fake news into the media and convince people that it was true, they could control that entire group of people and their beliefs, which would influence their behaviors. It is vital to fact-check the information you consume, especially on social media. If you don't, you could be consuming false information on a consistent basis. Social media platforms have started becoming more transparent about the information being shared on their platforms, marking certain things with a 'false information' warning and hiring fact-checkers to help identify fake news.