Social Media & You: Social Media

"It is becoming increasingly common for text, images, video, audio, and other multimedia to be at least partially created using AI tools. However, this promise of efficiency and comprehensive access to information and creative outputs brings with it significant technical, social, and ethical concerns. The rise of AI’s use has been matched by the rise in AI’s misuse to deceive, manipulate, and extort, creating the potential for significant economic and political implications." (from Capitol Technological University)

Tips for Spotting AI-generated Content

• Inconsistencies and Repetition: Odd and nonsensical phrasing. Abrupt shifts in tone, style and topic. Repeats sentences/phrases throughout.
• Context and Content: Text feels basic and formulaic. Seems to miss the point or understand the larger context. Blatant falsehoods and misinformation.
• Buzzwords and Grammar: Excessive use of buzzwords or jargon. Exceptionally perfect grammar throughout.
• Placeholder Text: Use of placeholders like [Insert name here] when AI lacks sufficient knowledge to fill the gap.
• Lack of Citations and Inaccurate Citations: Many AI platforms are unable to provide accurate citations to information sources. Inaccurate links to information sources. Made up citations based on predictive responses.

As creators and information sharers we need to be conscientious about the impact of our choices of what we say and what we share have on others. Here is a series of tips from the News Literacy Project for practicing information hygiene:

• Recognize the effects of your information decisions. Your conduct online can influence others and have real world consequences.
• Take time to practice good information hygiene. Scan comments for fact checks, do a quick search for the specific assertion, look for reliable sources and don’t spread any unsourced claims.
• Filter your information sources by choosing to focus on credible sources.
• Learn to spot misinformation patterns especially copy-and-paste content.
• Help sanitize social media feeds by flagging misinformation when you see it.

• Anyone with a device can author and share (publish) social media content.
• Social media content varies drastically. Content may be fact, opinion, or fake. Content ranges from personal musings and photographs to research data collected by experts.  
• Social media content may be published by professional organizations who employ fact checkers or your high school friend who re-posts every conspiracy theory he reads about.  
• The purpose of social media content may be to inform, educate, or mislead.  
• Anything goes in social media, so it's up to each of us to evaluate content and determine its' reliability. 

(from University of Washington Libraries)

Tips to spot a fake social media account

We've all run into fake social media accounts and spam from fake accounts. The social media universe contains fake accounts including bots (automated software that runs an account). Be suspicious when you see an account that:

• Claims to be a well known source (such as a major news network) but has only a few posts or has only been active for a short time.
• Posts more than 50 times a day. 
• Has a high percentage of shares, retweets & likes (often for the same post) rather than original posts.
• Has a high number of followers but a low number of follows.
• Uses a silhouette rather than image and has less personal information. If an image is used then check it out using a reverse image search like TinEye.

SIFT (The Four Moves)

Use the SIFT method from Mike Caulfield to separate fact from fake when reading websites and other media.

STOP

• Do you know the source of the information?
• What is its reputation?
• For deeper research, verify the information.

INVESTIGATE

• Know what you're reading.
• Where is it from? Biases, point of view?

FIND TRUSTED COVERAGE

• Understand the context of the information.
• Find the best source on the subject.

TRACE CLAIMS

• Trace claims, quotes or media back to its original context.
• Was the source you read/viewed an accurate depiction of the original?

from Mike Caulfield, Hapgood, June 19, 2019, https://hapgood.us/2019/06/19/sift-the-four-moves/.