If the past year has underscored anything it has laid bare how interconnected we all are and how information is merely a fingertip away. Besides reading, writing, and arithmetic one of the most crucial skills our children will learn is how to discern good information. Information is like water. We all need it. At first glance-- water may look like water. However, water can contain insidious, invisible, and nearly undetectable contaminants that render it to be downright dangerous. If you are not a discerning information consumer you can fall prey. Now more than ever, we all have to become savvy and educated information consumers.
How can you discern if something is true as you are scrolling the web or if a trusted friend posts something on Facebook? Just as you would want to be aware of the ingredients of a food you ingest, or that your water is unadulterated by contaminants-- we must be judicious consumers of information. We know that people act on information and that you will make choices based on your information diet. Those choices can be well informed or ill informed depending on the information that supports your decisions. It's all about being a smart consumer.
The first thing to realize is that everyone who writes, speaks, blogs, and communicates has a world view, opinions, cultural, ethnic, religious, and a myriad of other factors that influence the information they share. Even the most genuine journalists committed to the truth have a bias--we all do. The trick is to recognize that and consume your information diet with the knowledge that everyone has an agenda. It may be a good agenda--to inform an audience about an important health update. Or--it may be a self serving agenda such as publishing a hopelessly flawed study to boost profits of a snake oil. It is your responsibility as an information consumer to analyze the information quality to determine if it merits integrating into your knowledge base or before sharing with others. Remember, if you continually share bad information that can reflect on you. We all want to be known as trustworthy--don't let insidious bad information mar your reputation.
The first thing I do when someone posts an article, website, or blog is go to the URL and scroll to the bottom of the page and check out the "About Us" tab if there is one (Teachnology, n.d). If there is not an information tab that tells you a lot. In my experience when an individual or organization is not forthcoming about who they are they likely are hiding something and have nefarious motives. Read the information tab and then cross reference in your browser any key words, players, or partner organizations that come up. For example, last year an acquaintance posted an article regarding a Covid treatment from a "doctor" from a particular organization. I cross referenced her name to find out many colleagues had complained about her. She had been fired from a hospital job according to a newspaper article I found. Additionally, using white page lookup info I found a Google image of her "practice" which was next to a church which she pastored. It was also revealed she had not actually practiced medicine in some time and the subject she spoke about was out of her specialty training.
Interestingly, I shared my findings (which took less than 5 minutes) with my acquaintance with a comment to the effect of, "Not sure we want to trust this source". Sadly, the acquaintance had already made up her mind and was quick to defend the information. Which brings me to my next point which was my first point--we all have an agenda. Frequently we try to find sources of information that merely back up what we already believe. Is that healthy information consumerism? Certainly, if you knew water was contaminated you would turn it down and seek pure water. Let's never be so set in our ways or blindly devoted to an idea or a course of action that not even facts can change our mind. Our health, our safety, and the well being of those entrusted to our care is too important to dig our heels in when evidence of bad information challenges our tightly held beliefs.
My next rule I follow for discerning information is, "Follow the Money". We all need it and nearly nothing can function without it. Even reputable doctors and researchers are permitted to profit from their expertise. Med school is not cheap. But what are they selling? Are they selling a product they are promoting with their "study" or their article? Are they promoting a book, TV show, or other platform which they will solely profit from? The best researchers work hard for grants and funding for studies that are then peer reviewed--vetted by experts in their field and evaluated for the worthiness of further consideration. These processes are vigorous and consider the kind of research done, the sample size, the sample diversity, methods, and statistical analysis. The best studies self identify their own areas of weakness and areas for further study. These studies are often published in peer reviewed journals and promote the knowledge of experts in the field. As research progresses other scientists can build on the knowledge of peers and consider areas of further study in future research. Solid and trusted sources of information rarely directly benefit from the public from their research by directly selling a product, service, or idea. Misinformation and fake news are frequently used to manipulate an audience to further the agenda and/or profit of the author or organization sponsoring the site (Islam, et al 2020).
Who is the author and what are his/her qualifications? This should be readily apparent on the website or in the article through self disclosure. This information can be validated readily through a Google search of the author(s). What are peers saying about the author? Are they trusted in their field? Have they been censured? Fired? Have other people written articles discrediting them? Now, don't immediately dispose of an idea because there is backlash--oftentimes "New" ideas are criticized. However, if someone is repeatedly and consistently discredited or portrayed in a negative light by other professionals who are trusted and whose own credentials check out you have to consume what they are feeding you with a dire warning---information may not be exactly how it appears. Further research and careful consideration is warranted before you act on information disseminated by someone who is not trusted by their peers. It seems like common sense, right? However, this level of detail takes some research and in our instant gratification tech reality--that is time many people just do not care to invest. But, I repeat--you and your family are worth it! Remember your information is like water--keep it real.
Another question to ask--is the information I am reading being disseminated elsewhere? Have other researchers replicated these results? Science is not "One and done". A solid research study is able to be replicated with similar results. If it cannot then there are study flaws that should be identified. Researchers with integrity should not be so emotionally attached to their hypothesis that the study methods are manipulated--that's how scientists fail peer review of their studies and lose trust. In the past it has resulted in some very high profile study retractions and falls from grace of once revered doctors. In the world of science trust is a precious commodity that can garner research and grant opportunities, so top notch scientists do not toy with it.
Additionally, look at the forum the article is written on. Is it a scholarly peer reviewed journal or is it click bait designed to draw you in to advertisements, or other revenue generating content? Does the claim sound reasonable and consistent with other known facts? (Pennycook & Rand, 2021). Is it a .com, .gov, .edu, or a .org? Whether it originates from a commercial, governmental, education, or non profit source will skew the information and you just need to know the angle (Teachnology, n.d.). How does the web page feel? Is it easy to navigate and is information easy to access? Can you easily find out information on the authors, board of directors, or other leadership information or does it feel like you are trapped in an aisle at Walmart and you keep getting distracted by the merchandise? That may be okay if you are trying to catch up on Britney's progress dissolving her conservatorship. However, if you are trying to find reliable information to make a health decision that is....no bueno.
Lastly, do you have an expert in your life you can correlate the information with--like a real live living person you can talk to who will be straight with you. In the example I gave above I called my sister-in-law who happens to be an ICU nurse with nearly 20 years of experience in a leadership position. She has been caring for Covid patients since day 1. I said to her, "Hey, this acquaintance posted an article about this treatment for Covid. What has been your experience?" Notice, I didn't tell my sister in law what I already had found about the quack doctor with her office next to her church talking about content far outside her area of expertise. My sister in law quickly and authoritatively rebutted the effectiveness of the stated treatment and told me why. In great detail she told me of her experience in the early stages of the treatment and how the patients responded negatively. She told me how they had tried various dosages and techniques. Then she told me what the current standard of care was and how it worked. I went to an expert. She knows her stuff. She is respected in her field. She herself knows and trusts and respects experts and follows their lead and that has lead to her breadth of knowledge. Do you see what I did there? By the way-- I shared this exchange with my acquaintance who was completely undeterred by these facts. Is that how you want to live? I hope we never are so arrogant that we cannot defer to trusted experts. We cannot know everything. We need each other. We are not islands. The choices we make do affect those around us.
One of my jobs is a clinical instructor to nursing students. I ask a lot of questions. When my students look up their patient's information I will ask them, "Why do you think that patient with that medical condition is taking that medication?". "Hmmm yesterday his labs were "X" and today they are "Y", what do you think is going on with his disease process?". No matter how many questions I ask there is one answer that I always respect and it opens the doors to new knowledge. It shows humility and a desire to learn. You cannot be filled with the gift of knowledge if you are full of yourself. There is great humility and wisdom in the three simple words, "I don't know". The first day with my clinical group I tell them the most dangerous nurses are the ones who don't know, what they don't know. And that is true for all of us.
Stay curious. Ask questions. Know what you don't know. Seek quality information. Follow the money. Confirm the author qualifications, education, and their other work. Check their reputation among peers. Consult experts people in your life and have a real conversation with them when you are trying to make a decision. Have a medical question? Ask your doctor. A tax dilemma? Ask an accountant. A massive car repair? How about consulting an expert--a car mechanic you trust. We are only as smart as we are willing to recognize our limits. When we go beyond our knowledge base we are just faking it and playing roulette.
You are worth good information. Your family, your children and those in your care rely on you to be a savvy information consumer. You are what you eat, drink, and think--and your thoughts are shaped by the information you consume. Be willing to know your limits and consult those you trust and only share what you really know. Be well! Be safe! Be smart!
Kim Mihelich RN, MSN, CPAN
References
Islam, M. R., Liu, S., Wang, X., & Xu, G. (2020). Deep learning for misinformation detection on online social networks: a survey and new perspectives. Social network analysis and mining, 10(1), 82. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13278-020-00696-x
The Pennycook, G., & Rand, D. G. (2021). Psychology of Fake News. Trends in cognitive sciences, 25(5), 388–402. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2021.02.007
Teachnology, n.d., "How to Evaluate the Accuracy of a Website", accessed How to evaluate the accuracy of a website (teach-nology.com)
