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Your Ability to Detect Misinformation
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GuideMarch 24, 2026, 4:44 AM
👋 Welcome, everyone!
Our topic is your ability to detect misinformation. We'll be discussing this statement:
While other people might be easily influenced by misinformation, I am confident in my own ability to evaluate information accurately.
Brianna agrees with the statement.
Jessica disagrees with the statement.
My name is Guide, and I'm here to support your discussion. If you need anything, start your message with "Hey Guide" 🤓
BriannaMarch 24, 2026, 7:36 PM
Hey Jessica, why do you not feel confident in your ability to evaluate information accurately?
JessicaMarch 24, 2026, 10:12 PM
Since this topic is more of a personal opinion, I view my skills in evaluating information on the lower side, so I disagree, as I'm not confident. I have learned skills to evaluate information from media to a research paper to find credibility and avoid fallacies. However, often times I see myself falling for or being influenced by misinformation and sometimes sharing that misinformation without knowing. I think how I view myself is similar to the Dunning-Kruger effect, where I have moderate expertise and experience in evaluating information accurately, but feel less confident in my abilities. In addition, if I hear information that is easy to absorb or simply makes sense, I tend to believe it without fact-checking.
JessicaMarch 24, 2026, 10:21 PM
Also, I am less confident as I am a victim of the illusory effect of repetition. An example was during high school, when my classmates were spreading news about the Marvel Endgame movie. I am not a big follower of DC or Marvel, so I believed the news my classmates were spreading as true, as they had watched the movie, and so many were sharing the same fact. Spoiler not spoiler, I believed them when they said Aquaman died in Endgame. I believed this fact until the end of the school day, as when I told my friend about this new information, I learned that this was false news. Although this example might lean more towards trolling than misinformation, it doesn't change the fact that I chose to believe this false claim as truth without fact-checking before I shared. Despite having the skills to evaluate information through a quick Google search, I fell victim to misinformation more times than I'm proud of, which is why I am not confident in my abilities.
JessicaMarch 24, 2026, 10:23 PM
How about you? Why are you confident in your abilities? And despite your confidence in your abilities, are you sometimes influenced by misinformation or not at all?
BriannaMarch 24, 2026, 10:34 PM
Yes, I totally have been in a scenario where I have fallen victim to misinformation when I dont have much knowledge. With that though, I still feel confident in my abilities to evaluate for myself later. Especially in a group settings I think very thoroughly before I speak and really take in what others have to say.
GuideMarch 24, 2026, 10:36 PM
Brianna, can you say more about what makes you confident despite acknowledging you've fallen victim to misinformation?
You mention evaluating "for yourself later" and thinking thoroughly in group settings. But Jessica described a similar pattern — she has skills to fact-check but often doesn't use them in the moment, which undermines her confidence.
What's the difference between your situation and Jessica's? Is it just that you're more forgiving of yourself for these lapses, or do you think there's something fundamentally different about how susceptible you are to misinformation compared to others?
BriannaMarch 24, 2026, 10:38 PM
I also want to point out the difference in being influenced by misinformation compared to just taking it in. I actually think consuming misinformation could be helpful especially when forming your own thoughts. While it is inaccurate it could help you to build your own thoughts and even cement your side of an argument. I feel like this may be why I am confident in my abilities because I am placing a difference on being able to decipher what is misinformation and being influenced by it.
JessicaMarch 24, 2026, 10:43 PM
What does it mean to be influenced by misinformation? Does it just mean to fall victim to misinformation, or is there something more?
JessicaMarch 24, 2026, 10:46 PM
When I think of being influenced by misinformation, I just think of people sharing false information that can potentially be dangerous to themselves and others.
BriannaMarch 25, 2026, 12:39 AM
Yes being influenced, to me is equivalent to falling victim. In other words being influenced is acting on or with misinformation. So that could be sharing it, that could be letting it lead you away from your original thoughts. But it's one thing to consume, it's another to let it influence.
BriannaMarch 25, 2026, 12:41 AM
I believe we both agree in the heat of the moment you may not be able to identify misinformation as it is. But if you feel the need to revisit it, that should lead to strengthen your confidence in evaluating it. It shows that you heard, read, or saw something that wasn't quite right and allowed you to dig deeper. This can eventually lead to being able to identify it within the heat of the moment.
GuideMarch 25, 2026, 12:43 AM
Jessica, how do you respond to Brianna's distinction between consuming misinformation and being influenced by it?
You shared the Aquaman example where you believed and shared false information — which by Brianna's definition means you were influenced, not just exposed. But Brianna seems confident she can consume misinformation without acting on it.
Do you think that distinction holds up? Or is the line between "consuming" and "being influenced" harder to draw than Brianna suggests?
JessicaMarch 25, 2026, 10:13 PM
I think there is no hard line between "consuming" and "being influenced" by misinformation. Because sometimes you don't catch misinformation right away or even if a long time pass. Because sometimes we don't always go back and revaluate information we hear especially if it's misinformation that doesn't sound false or hasn't violated prior information we know to be true. What caught my attention in the book Age of Magical Overthinking, repetition help information digestion so when hearing information repeatedly a person can misinterprete the information as truth, "fluency as accuracy." Familiarity of what we know to be true can hinder our abilities to discern misinformation, until something triggers a response that signals "hey this sounds wrong," we won't actually go back and rethink information.
BriannaMarch 25, 2026, 10:31 PM
so you're say we are still influenced by misinformation if we hear it multiple times?
JessicaMarch 25, 2026, 10:48 PM
I think the book interpreted as if you hear misinformation enough at one point it might feel familiar and sound credible .
GuideMarch 25, 2026, 10:48 PM
Brianna, does Jessica's point challenge your confidence at all?
She's suggesting that repetition can make misinformation feel true without us realizing it — we might not even know we need to "revisit" it because it never triggers our skepticism.
If that's right, how would you know whether you're just "consuming" misinformation versus actually being influenced by it without realizing?
BriannaMarch 25, 2026, 10:57 PM
I guess this does challenge my confidence a little. But in a way I feel like if is talked about more that gives more opportunity to rethink and adjust. I get that repetition creates a feeling of truth but it could also bring about more skepticism.
JessicaMarch 25, 2026, 11:10 PM
I agree if information is repeated enough maybe at some point someone would question it and rethink the information if its true or not. But if we can be influence by misinformation without being aware of it how can we catch it if it doesn't trigger any signals of skepticism. Like how can you catch misinformation if you don't know that it is?
BriannaMarch 25, 2026, 11:52 PM
Yes, I totally get that can be hard. I guess for me now with everything I'm always skeptical on if it's real or fake and so I assume it's misinformation until otherwise proven.
GuideMarch 25, 2026, 11:52 PM
Jessica, what do you make of Brianna's approach — assuming everything is misinformation until proven otherwise?
Does that strategy actually solve the problem you raised, or does it just shift the burden? If you're constantly skeptical of everything, how do you decide what's worth fact-checking and what to accept?
JessicaMarch 26, 2026, 12:15 AM
I think Brianna's approach to assume information as false until proven otherwise is valid strategy against misinformation and being misled. But it does raise the question what information is worth checking. Because realistically you can't or more like you won't fact check everything you might hear, as you hear a lot of information daily. Therefore, Brianna's approach on misinformation might not be very realistic to the everyday/daily information. So how do you select which information to be skeptical about if it doesn't doesn't trigger any warning signs. Or in your case Brianna, if you treat all information with skepticism until proven otherwise what is your selective process to choose what information to fact check over the rest.
JessicaMarch 26, 2026, 12:16 AM
or do you fact checking every information you hear?
BriannaMarch 26, 2026, 12:23 AM
I don't fact check all information I'm given. I guess if it doesn't raise particularly any concern i'll fact check if I am interested, so there is some bias there.
JessicaMarch 26, 2026, 12:38 AM
I know that you have to fact check a lot of political and medical information for instance. But how about information that are more interesting comments or stories like, "smelly peasants are the reason bridal bouquets exist" because they rarely bathe or information about a movie you haven't seen for instance. Would you fact-check or look further into these examples or would you ignore this kind of information as their is no real interest or value. As these one off misinformation aren't as dangerous as misinformation of politics or medicine.
BriannaMarch 26, 2026, 2:45 AM
I would fact check information like that because it sparks curiosity. For movies if it's some sort of spoiler I will not look into it until I see the movie for myself because if it's not true I want to leave what actually happens a mystery until I see it.
JessicaMarch 26, 2026, 3:10 AM
That is interesting. If curiosity helps guide or dictates your decision to fact check information and dig deeper for verification. How about facts that are uninteresting and less dramatic but also false. I can't name some on top of my head, maybe like goldfish having 3 second memory (common myth heard). But would uninteresting false information slip through your radar.
BriannaMarch 26, 2026, 3:20 AM
Honestly probably, I guess when I answered the question I was making a clear distinction between being influenced and being able to tell what misinformation is. I see now there isn't really a clear different as you said!
Understanding Quiz
Jessica
Early in the discussion, how did Brianna explain her confidence despite admitting that she can initially accept misinformation?
Justification
She emphasized that she can evaluate information later and thinks carefully before speaking in group settings.
She argued that prior knowledge usually prevents misinformation from affecting her judgment in group discussions.
She explained that she fact-checks information whenever it conflicts with another person's original position.
She claimed that frequent exposure makes questionable information easier for her to identify immediately.
When you asked what it means to be influenced by misinformation, how did Brianna distinguish influence from mere consumption?
Justification
Influence meant questioning an inaccurate claim, while consumption meant using that claim to strengthen an argument.
Influence meant repeatedly encountering a claim, while consumption meant encountering that claim only once.
Influence meant finding a claim believable, while consumption meant remembering and repeating that claim later.
Influence meant acting on misinformation or changing your thoughts because of it, while consumption meant merely taking it in.
After the Guide raised your point that repetition may create belief without triggering skepticism, how did Brianna initially defend part of her confidence?
Justification
She reasoned that repeated discussion creates additional chances to reconsider a claim and may produce skepticism as well as familiarity.
She reasoned that repeated discussion matters mainly when a claim concerns politics, medicine, or another dangerous subject.
She reasoned that repeated discussion makes a claim easier to disprove because reliable sources become more widely available.
She reasoned that repeated discussion can be safely ignored when a person has already formed an original opinion.
When you pressed Brianna about how she selects information to verify, what decision process did she describe?
Justification
She checked low-stakes claims only when they contradicted knowledge she had already verified from credible sources.
She checked claims that raised concern or sparked her interest, while recognizing that this introduced bias into her choices.
She checked claims mainly according to their potential harm, while postponing harmless claims until someone challenged them.
She checked unfamiliar claims discussed by groups, while accepting familiar claims that did not produce warning signs.
Toward the end of the discussion, why did Brianna revise her earlier distinction between identifying misinformation and being influenced by it?
Justification
She admitted that uninteresting falsehoods could escape her attention, showing that the two categories were not clearly separable.
She concluded that postponing movie spoilers showed that avoiding information is more reliable than evaluating it.
She accepted that curiosity removes selection bias by motivating people to verify both interesting and ordinary claims.
She decided that repeated misinformation becomes influential only when a person shares it with someone else.
Brianna
At the beginning of the discussion, why did Jessica rate her ability to evaluate information on the lower side despite having learned evaluation skills?
Justification
She believed moderate expertise produces excessive confidence that prevents people from recognizing their mistakes.
She noticed that she sometimes accepts and shares plausible misinformation without using her fact-checking skills.
She thought limited knowledge of Marvel and DC made her generally unable to assess credible information.
She believed evaluation skills work for research papers but are less useful when checking media claims.
When you distinguished consuming misinformation from being influenced by it, how did Jessica challenge the distinction?
Justification
She argued that unnoticed familiarity can make repeated information seem true before skepticism is ever triggered.
She argued that consumption is harmless when the claim concerns entertainment rather than medicine or politics.
She argued that influence occurs only after repeated claims directly contradict something a person already knows.
She argued that consumption becomes influence only when someone publicly shares the claim with another person.
After you suggested that repeated discussion could create more opportunities for skepticism, what was Jessica's response?
Justification
She rejected that repetition might prompt questioning, because familiar information becomes permanently resistant to later correction.
She accepted that skepticism solves unnoticed influence, but argued that it is mainly useful for political and medical claims.
She allowed that repetition might prompt questioning, but asked how unnoticed influence could be caught without a skeptical signal.
She agreed that repeated discussion reliably exposes falsehoods, but asked whether people have enough time to research them.
How did Jessica assess your strategy of treating information as false until it is proven otherwise?
Justification
She considered it effective for entertainment claims but less useful for consequential political and medical information.
She considered it realistic only when curiosity provides a reason to investigate every claim encountered during the day.
She considered it valid in principle but unrealistic unless you can select which daily claims deserve fact-checking.
She considered it too skeptical because it prevents people from accepting even well-supported information as credible.
Why did Jessica introduce the example of the common myth that goldfish have a three-second memory?
Justification
She wanted to establish that repeated myths eventually create enough skepticism to make people verify them.
She wanted to test whether uninteresting false claims could escape checking when curiosity guides your attention.
She wanted to compare a harmless myth with political claims that people have a responsibility to investigate.
She wanted to show that familiar animal myths are more harmful than one-off misinformation about movies.
Survey results
Opinion Changes
Students rated the following statement: While other people might be easily influenced by misinformation, I am confident in my own ability to evaluate information accurately.
Strongly disagree
Moderately disagree
Slightly disagree
No idea
Slightly agree
Moderately agree
Strongly agree
Jessica
—
Brianna
-2
Pre-chat opinion
Post-chat opinion
Moved toward agreement
Moved toward disagreement
Partner Ratings
Statement
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly Agree
Guide treated me and my partner with equal respect
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Jessica
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I felt comfortable sharing my honest opinions with my partner
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Jessica
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I was not offended by my partner's perspective
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Brianna
My partner was genuinely trying to understand my perspective
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Brianna
This discussion improved my perception of my partner
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Brianna
It was valuable to chat with a student who did NOT share my perspective
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Jessica
It would be good if more students and classes used Sway
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Jessica
Brianna
This discussion led me to change my mind about something related to the topic
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Brianna
Jessica
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The skills I practiced in this chat will be useful in my conversations outside of Sway