OHIO — Misinformation continues to work itself into people’s lives and presenting a new threat that consumed media may not be true. 

“We’re exposed to a lot more information than we were in the past and because of that we’re exposed to more misinformation,” said Dr. Lisa Fazio, an Associate Professor of Psychology and Human Development at Vanderbilt’s Peabody College.

She studies how people learn false information and how to reduce the impact of it.

“Helping people out of these rabbit holes and out of these conspiracy theories is possible, but it’s not easy. And it tends to only happen when they’re ready,” she said. “When people start to notice the flaws in this logic, but not all of these things can be true at the same time. If someone was wrong about this, maybe they’re wrong about more, then they can start to pull themselves out.”

So what makes someone more susceptible to misinformation?

“Everyone is susceptible to misinformation if it’s the right piece of false information, so no one is too smart to call for misinformation. All that it takes is something that you don’t know much about and a trusted source telling you something that you want to believe,” said Fazio.

Presidential elections are often a contentious time for families and other relationships, but when paired with the COVID-19 pandemic, many found themselves at odds with loved ones.

Rachelle Chiarappa said during this time, she found herself in a strained relationship with both her mom and brother.

“I was thinking, ‘Is this enough to get us all to walk away from each other?’ Like is this enough to say ‘We are all good,’ and this is where we all go in different directions,” she said. “Or like how much do you fight for something when you’re also not seeing them?”

Chiarappa’s story may sound familiar to many people.

“You can’t rationalize with people that have made their decision about information, whether it’s real or not, because they have felt like they’ve gotten accreditation from multiple different facets. And so it’s hard, and it’s like, do I argue, for the sake of arguing? And that’s where I feel like I’ve had to make choices,” she said. 

She said not having a relationship with her family members was never an option for her. For others, it may be hard to understand why people are spreading misinformation. 

According to Fazio, much of the misinformation that’s spread is for things like money or power, but the average person is likely sharing things out of concern or fear.

“People are actually sharing out of altruism,” she said. “So they’re worried that if this is true, it’s really worrisome. So I should let my people that I care about know, even if I think it might be false or might not actually be true.”

Fazio said ensuring the media being consumed is accurate is important.

“One thing I do like to tell people is that when you see something that inspires a lot of emotion in you, that’s a signal that you should pause because a lot of times disinformers will use our emotions in order to create content that will get a lot of engagement and a lot of spread,” said Fazio.

While many believe there’s no turning back, Fazio said there is a way out of the misinformation rabbit hole.

“I think it’s important to remember that this doesn’t make you a bad person and that this can be a moment for growth and change,” she said. “And I also recommend to reach out to people who you lost contact with or stopped communicating with as often. Some of them may not want to have contact, but others might be excited. That now you can be back in their lives.”

Chiarappa said putting these differences on the back-burner has proved possible for her family.

“Now that we’ve come out of it, like, you know, my relationship with my mom has been fabulous, my brother and I see each other all the time and like, all of that stuff you realize does not impact the interactions that we have when you’re talking about day-to-day activities,” she said. “You can’t turn your back on that because of the computer that you keep in your face at all times.”

Fazio said this problem isn’t going away anytime soon and as technology evolves, we will have to continue to make sure we can trust the information we are taking in.

“Everyone is susceptible to this. This isn’t another people problem,” she said. “This is a human being’s problem.”