Illusory Truth Effect

As we know, social media is how everybody gets their information, making it the most powerful source of knowledge, which always has many pros and cons. A con with this is that there are so many people on the internet, which leads to there being so much information. Social media is a news overload. You hear so many sides, opinions, and sources, and it is hard to comprehend what is real or not. For a lot of people with information overload, they rely on using “shortcuts.” What I mean by shortcuts is wanting to find out the facts and wanting to do it fast. This leads to the Illusory Truth Effect. 

The Illusory Truth Effect is “When we hear the same false information repeated again and again, we often come to believe it is true.” Social media being so reliable to everyone and the ability to post so many opinions can lead to many misconceptions and misinformation. People will share false news on the Internet, leading to many viewers, and after hearing it repeatedly, the followers come to believe it and continue spreading it under the idea of “awareness.”

You can see how the misinformation that goes viral on social media can be fuelled by ulterior motives and cause conflict and harm. For example, in the story on Pizzagate, back in 2016, there was a rumor on social media that accused the Comet Ping Pong pizzeria of being the home of a child sex abuse ring involving Hillary Clinton. Edgar Maddison Welch spent three days researching, reading, and watching videos about this “news.” Edgar took it so seriously that he decided to take action into his own hands and showed up at Comet Ping Pong pizzeria with an AR-15 rifle. He raided the pizza place, scaring all employees and customers, and when he got to the backdoor where the children had been “claimed to be,” there were kids playing ping-pong terrified. Edgar was then sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison due to the fake information he heard on the internet. Not that Edgar did the right thing, even if it was true, but fake news can turn people bad. Edgar had said at court that he went into this thinking he was “saving people.” It is truly important to really do research before making accusations and not just believing and only listening to one side of the story.

Fake news rarely benefits the audience; instead, it often serves those who share it. While it may provide advantages for politicians or marketers, the consequences of being caught can be severe. For instance, a marketer might exaggerate claims about a product to boost sales and recognition. Although this strategy can yield short-term results, it raises serious ethical concerns. Many skincare and makeup brands promise outcomes that often don’t hold. This is particularly evident in TikTok, where brands frequently ask influencers to promote their products with misleading claims. Madi Lewis posted a video online saying that if the price is right, she is willing to lie about the product. This makes it extremely hard to know what brands are real or fake because if we see so many influencers reviewing them and saying all these amazing things, we often believe it's true, resulting in purchasing that product or item. It is extremely important to do your own research on a brand to see if their advertisement is genuine or a stunt. 

The Illusory Truth Effects harms everyone, your educational level or knowledge doesn't make you unaffected by it. The Illusory Truth Effect is very tricky to avoid, especially because it is. our unconscious and automatic processing system, we usually don’t realize when we’ve fallen prey to it."  It is extremely important to use critical thinking when researching or hearing new information from the internet. It sounds very obvious, but you would be surprised how people just fall for the first thing they hear. If you have a slight hesitation about it, do a quick fact-check. It's better to take those two minutes to find the truth rather than digging yourself a hole into a whole bunch of lies.