Caption: “Why it’s so easy to fall for fake news and how to spot it” from CBC News (2019)

In this guide from Purdue, you can see a variety of logical fallacies that may be embedded into content you see online. One example we can look at in this skit video below is a political satire about a red herring fallacy.

When it’s put into a skit above, it seems pretty easy to identify a logical fallacy!

However, you were just scrolling over a bandwagon statement on TikTok such as “Pilates is all the rage for having a hot-girl summer” or a hasty generalization like “eating high-protein meals is the only way to keep full and lose weight”, those are things much harder to spot in the moment.

It can even happen in a real-life disagreements where someone repeating misinformation may say, in response to your fact-checking, you are “attacking them or accusing them of lying” (or, a straw man argument!).

Some steps^[1] to keep in mind when you or someone you know might be encountering mis/dis/mal-information include: 

1. Consider using the term “rumor” or “misleading content” instead of misinformation. This can help mitigate triggered reactions and be clear on still wanting to have an established and safe conversation.
2. Take some time to understand why this misleading content resonates with your loved one. People’s social identities and lived experiences influence the way the world treats them, how they perceive themselves, and how they interact with others. This is the framework they approach information with, and it might help unpack some of this when you are discussing why they feel strongly about “untrustworthy” knowledge.
3. Talk about your sources and discuss why you find them trustworthy. It might not work in all cases, as relationships or family dynamics are varied and complex, but practicing “due weight” by proportionally focusing content with higher amounts of quality sources may help.
4. Recognize that you are not trying to change people’s core beliefs, just addressing misleading information. This may be hard, but think of it as trying to build a safe and continuous conversation. It’s unlikely you will convince someone to change their mind quickly, and disapproving their entire worldview or lived experience (if any) can lead to them shutting down. Try bits of misinformation that can be debunked instead of broad general accusations.
5. Provide a detailed fact-check when debunking claims. Instead of keeping claims brief, it may be more effective in detailing pathways on why and how your fact-checking is correct. Try even using more than one instance to help compare or contrast!
6. Manage expectations on how these conversations may go. It may not happen today, or tomorrow, and maybe never, but navigating relationships in the face of misinformation is a slow and evolving process, so find a balance between these conversations and peace!