Monday, January 3, 2022

Take 20 Seconds for Good Information Hygiene

 


In the face of rampant misinformation on social media, the interdisciplinary team of PhDs and Clinicians at Dear Pandemic recommend the following steps for good Information Hygiene:

  • Assess the source
  • Go beyond the headlines
  • Identify the author
  • Check the date
  • Examine supporting evidence
  • Check your biases [Separate fact from emotion]
  • Turn to Fact Checkers
These skills will help you root out good info from bad on the interwebs.

Advice for good information hygiene:

Take 20 seconds guidance serves as an apt metaphor for practicing good information hygiene. Peter Adams, the News Literacy Project’s senior vice president of education, made the connection during a March 14 segment of NPR’s All Things Considered.  Here is how Peter described it: “The equivalent of taking 20 seconds and washing your hands is very much the same in the information space. If everyone can take 20 seconds, investigate the source, do a quick Google search, stay skeptical, we can eliminate a great deal of the confusion and misinformation out there.”

Brought to you by Ascension Wisconsin Library Services. 

No comments:

Post a Comment