Bridging the Divide 2020 – Beyond Good Manners: Promoting Civil Discussion on Issues that Divide Us

In the first session of Bridging the Divide, the three speakers shared a powerful discussion about misinformation. Maura Policelli, Executive Director of the Keough School of Global Affairs’ Washington, D.C., Office, moderated a discussion between John Duffy, O’Malley Director of Notre Dame’s Writing Program, Lisa Fazio, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Vanderbilt University, and Tim Weninger, and Frank M. Freimann Collegiate Professor of Engineering at Notre Dame. The speakers discussed ethical arguments around sharing information on social media, the responsibility social media users hold, and how our brains process misinformation. In today’s world, especially leading up to the presidential election, misinformation is a major issue, and the prevalence of social media only makes this misinformation easier to spread. 

The speakers began their conversation by discussing the prevalence of social media and increasing misinformation. Each individual user on social media holds a responsibility to like and share authentic information. When these users engage with misinformation, not only are they altering the algorithm of their own feed, but also that of their social media friends. This has major implications, as research shows that repetition increases belief, so if someone is seeing repetitive misinformation headlines on their feeds, they are more likely to believe it. 

Although this is a growing issue, there are ways to prevent the spread of misinformation. Fazio shared how one of the best ways for people to prepare themselves for inauthentic information is to understand certain themes that tend to involve misinformation, such as discussions around election fraud. Duffy explained that people need to critique misinformation. Although they may not be able to change the mind of the individual who posted or shared the inauthentic information, they may be able to change the minds of readers or bystanders seeing the misinformation on their feeds. Duffy also shared that people have to construct arguments about truthfulness and trust in order to build up communities and the kind of democracy we want, grounded in truth. Weninger advised people to slow down and be thoughtful with what they are sharing on social media because their social votes and shares truly matter. 

Although misinformation is much more prevalent today, the speakers explained how it is not a new problem. Misinformation has existed as long as newspapers have existed, but today’s advanced technology, such as photoshop and film editing, in addition to social media, has amplified the issue of misinformation. It is important that we all have human opinions and biases, but that we share these opinions with authentic information to build up a more truthful and trustworthy community and democracy. 

The session ended with a discussion on the election and opinions about voter fraud. Fazio shared how it is important to remember that we are a country based on democracy, and one of the major tenets of democracy is counting votes truthfully, and there is no evidence of any widespread voter fraud in the United States. Additionally, if Americans lose confidence in our elections, then we have lost our democracy, so it is important to not do so based on fraudulent information. While the information will remain to be published and promoted on social media, it is each individual’s responsibility to check the information they are reading and ensure the content they are engaging with and believing is authentic. Duffy successfully closed the discussion by reminding viewers that civil discourse does not mean agreement on everything, but rather indignation and finding a balance between refusing to respect conspiracy theories, fighting for an equal democracy, and continuing to fight for beliefs that are consistent with one’s ethical principles regarding truthful and authentic information. 

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