Hodson on online conspiracies

Digital literacy and misinformation expert Assoc. Prof. Jaigris Hodson appeared on the People First Radio podcast to discuss the history of conspiracy theories and what we can do to avoid being fooled.

Here is some of what she had to say:

"It doesn’t take long to see that misinformation is a tool people have used to attract attention, gain status, or even try to persuade people, since we’ve been talking to one another…

"There’s something about the digital communications technologies that have exacerbated this or facilitated some of the misinformation we see spreading in other ways.

"There are two properties about the internet that really allow for this spread. The first is that anybody can start a web site and make claims about anything… The second part of why the internet spreads misinformation so far and wide is that it is part of an attention economy that thrives on engagement metrics."

You can listen to the full interview on the People First Radio podcast.