Episode 6: Disinformation and its consequences, with Prof. Claire Wardle
Send us a textSYNOPSISDr. Claire Wardle is a disinformation expert and communications professor at Cornell University. She joins Rachel and Dan to talk about the history of disinformation study, how new technology introduces new challenges, and about how the information ecosystem might change in the future. She offers insights into the psychology of disinformation. From the conversation, Rachel elaborates on the lens of Friction, and Dan talks about a lens he can only call “Middle of the night.” STORIES OF DISINFORMATIONThe Propaganda of Hearst and PulitzerThe Spanish American War and the Yellow Press (Library of Congress)The Gilded Age (Wikipedia)Bedlam and Squalor and Worse, Oh MyTranscript of August 11 press conference (Roll Call)Trump exaggerates DC crime while ordering police take-over and National Guard deployment (Politifact)Trump’s DOJ claims credit for falling crime rate in DC (Justice.gov)INTERVIEWDr. Claire WardleAustralian drama series about the wellness industry: Apple Cider VinegarJim Acosta “interviews” LLM based on Parkland shooting victimDr. Noc, social media science influencer, who may not be scruffy enough to be believedLENSESFrictionFor designers, "friction" represents how much the experience intrudes on consuming information or completing tasks. Experiences increase the intrusion to discourage destructive actions (like deleting important information). Additionally, it is often said that lies are “low friction” and truth is “high friction”. That is, understanding and internalizing a lie is less cognitive demanding than doing so with the truth. How does the system use friction to engage users’ critical thinking skills? How does the system reduce the friction on high quality information?How does the system titrate the amount of friction in the experience relative to the quality of information?Middle of the nightUsers are most susceptible to disinformation when they are at their most vulnerable, like in the middle of the night with a health scare.How does the system support users who are agitated and vulnerable?How does the format of the information take into account a user who is agitated or vulnerable?How would the system fare if it catered to someone using it in an extrem_____________________________________________________ Personnel Dan Brown, Host Rachel Price, Host Emily Duncan, Editor Music Turtle Up Fool, by Elliot _____________________________________________________ Unchecked is a production of Curious Squid Curious Squid is a digital design consulting firm specializing in information architecture, user experience, and product design
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Episode 5: Disinformation and cognitive bias, with David Dylan Thomas
Send us a textSYNOPSISDavid Dylan Thomas joins Rachel and Dan to talk about cognitive biases. David explains the fundamental attribution error, the framing effect, and the confirmation bias. All of these contribute to a skewed perception in which a person’s misconceptions about the world can be reinforced or exploited. The conversation leads Rachel to suggest the lens of manipulation and Dan the lens of belonging.+ + +STORIES OF DISINFORMATIONMary ToftDan quotes from Mary Toft; or the Rabbit Queen, by Dexter PalmerThe true story of Mary Toft, 18th century medical hoaxer (wikipedia)AI PolicyDirective to remove AI Safety from agreement on cooperative research and development agreement (Wired)News story about executive order on woke AI (Wall Street Journal)The executive order to “prevent woke AI” (Whitehouse.gov)+ + +INTERVIEW WITH DAVID DYLAN THOMASDavid Dylan ThomasDesign for Cognitive BiasThe Cognitive Bias PodcastStory from The Hill about Facebook algorithmWhite Meat, the movie+ + +LENSESManipulationContent can manipulate a person’s hope and joy, and anger and fear, triggering a physiological reaction. But the content of a system is not solely responsible for this effect on users.What role does the ecosystem play in framing and presenting information in a way to garner an emotional response?How might someone use the system to elicit a powerful emotion?What emotions is the system trying to exploit?How does the system measure and/or classify information based on its level of physiological activation?BelongingThe intent of disinformation is often to make someone feel like they belong to a community.What role does belonging play in the system?What aspects of the system (labeling, categorization) create a sense of belonging?How does the system take advantage of a person belonging to it?How does the system model users as information objects?What is the emotional component of the relationships represented in the information space?_____________________________________________________ Personnel Dan Brown, Host Rachel Price, Host Emily Duncan, Editor Music Turtle Up Fool, by Elliot _____________________________________________________ Unchecked is a production of Curious Squid Curious Squid is a digital design consulting firm specializing in information architecture, user experience, and product design
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Episode 4: Disinformation and federal information spaces with Dana Chisnell
Send us a textSYNOPSISDana Chisnell joins Dan and Rachel to talk about information in civic tech. Dana discusses her experience with voting systems, immigration, and homeland security. New executive orders on communicating about people directly affected Dana’s job. She explains her rationale for stepping down from her executive position. Rachel coins the lens “#influencers” and Dan describes the lens “Messaging.”STORIES OF DISINFORMATIONThe AIDS crisisDan’s son was in a musical called Falsettos and it brought back many memories about growing up in New York City in the 1970s and 1980s.AIDS denialism (Wikipedia)Panic, Paranoia, and Public Health – The AIDS Epidemic’s Lessons for Ebola (New England Journal of Medicine)Falsettos at Lincoln Center (YouTube)Salmon fishing in the Pacific NorthwestRachel notes a mainstream use of the term “misinformation” in, of all places, a local controversy over salmon fishing.Northwest Indigenous leaders recommit to alliance to bolster salmon recovery (Bellingham Herald)Bellingham’s SE Alaska salmon fleet threatened by lawsuits, misinformation (Cascadia Daily News) INTERVIEW WITH DANA CHISNELLDana ChisnellPlain Language Makes a Difference When People Vote (Journal of User Experience)Resettling Afghan refugees (DOD archive)Executive Order 14035: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce (Federal Register)Office of Homeland Security StatisticsLENSES#InfluencersInformation spaces rely on “elders” or authorities to give information merit. Designing a system needs to acknowledge that influencers have long been part of information spaces, even before they were digital.How does the system rely on influencers?How does the system enable influencers without giving them too much power?MessagingMicrocontent in systems are meant to guide users and we’ve long focused on the the clarity and usability. In modern interconnected information environments even the smallest misunderstanding can snowball into full-fledged misinformation.How might microcopy spawn misinformation?What might people extrapolate from otherwise simple or harmless system messages?Ask yourself: What if someone posts this _____________________________________________________ Personnel Dan Brown, Host Rachel Price, Host Emily Duncan, Editor Music Turtle Up Fool, by Elliot _____________________________________________________ Unchecked is a production of Curious Squid Curious Squid is a digital design consulting firm specializing in information architecture, user experience, and product design
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Episode 3: Disinformation and vaccines with Dr. Adam Ratner
Send us a textSYNOPSISRachel and Dan talk to Dr. Adam Ratner, author of the new book Booster Shots, about the misinformation he encounters as a pediatric infectious disease specialist. We discuss the distinctions between vaccine hesitancy and being anti-vax, and how misinformation has an impact beyond individual healthcare. Dan uses the discussion to highlight a new “lens” called double-tagging, and Rachel is inspired to establish the lens “frenzy.”__________STORIES OF DISINFORMATIONThe Fifth ColumnRachel describes how the US used the fictional threat of a “fifth column” to bolster their argument for Japanese internment camps.A Brief History of Japanese American Relocation During World War II (National Park Service)How a Public Media Campaign Led to Japanese Incarceration during WWII (GBH - American Experience)Of Spies and G-Men: How the U.S. Government Turned Japanese Americans into Enemies of the State (densho.org)Reciprocal TariffsDan highlights some of the more subtle and insidious misinformation about Trump’s tariffs.Trade deficits and truth deficits (Julian Sanchez)PBS interview of Justin WolfersJake Tapper interview of Ag secretary Rollins__________INTERVIEW WITH DR ADAM RATNERDr. Adam RatnerAdam’s book: Booster Shots: The Urgent Lesson of Measles and the Uncertain Future of Children’s Health2019 measles outbreak in New York City (New England Journal of Medicine)Brooklyn measles outbreak: How a glossy booklet spread anti-vaccine messages in Orthodox Jewish communities (NBC News)__________LENSESDouble-taggingSeemingly innocuous labels can be turned into misinformation by applying them in a way that is technically accurate, but twists the meaning of the label. Tagging anti-vax information with the label “vaccines” is misleading, and undermines the integrity of the system.How might tags and classification schemes be co-opted to threaten the system’s integrity?How does the system’s classification scheme adapt to deal with neutral terms that have become loaded?FrenzyInformation systems have a responsibility to help users understand what’s truly important and/or urgent. Systems must avoid contributing to the frenzy of information.How does the system help participants prioritize without causing a fre_____________________________________________________ Personnel Dan Brown, Host Rachel Price, Host Emily Duncan, Editor Music Turtle Up Fool, by Elliot _____________________________________________________ Unchecked is a production of Curious Squid Curious Squid is a digital design consulting firm specializing in information architecture, user experience, and product design
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Episode 2: Disinformation and civic tech, with Cyd Harrell
Send us a textSYNOPSISDan and Rachel talk with Cyd Harrell about the challenges of providing information to citizens that is accurate and accessible, even when it needs to be official and formal. Rachel discusses the Accuracy as a lens for evaluating information ecosystems. Dan explains the lens Accountability.EPISODE CONTENTSStories of DisinformationDan describes misinformation from the Bush administration that provided the impetus for the US invasion of IraqThe Iraq Invasion 20 Years Later (Mother Jones)Lie by Lie: A Timeline of How We Got Into Iraq (Mother Jones)The Other "Big Lie" and Our Democratic Fragility (Harvard Kennedy School)Rachel describes how the US National Park Rangers handle messaging guidelines from the Trump administrationInterview with Cyd HarrellCyd's book, A Civic Technologist's Practice GuideLensesAccuracyIt turns out accuracy is a spectrum, and sometimes information is "accurate enough" for the purposes of the people using it. At the same time, some domains require information that is precise, even when that isn't required by all users.How does the system define and uphold an acceptable threshold for accuracy? How does the system ensure information is precise? AccountableWhen information is held accountable, it is subjected to outside critique and validation. Perfectly closed systems prevent information from being scrutinized. But also, systems that appear open can be compromised.How does the system encourage sources to be accountable for their contributions? How does the system enable outside criticism and give it equal weight to the original contributions?=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=PersonnelDan Brown, HostRachel Price, HostEmily Duncan, EditorMusicTurtle Up Fool, by Elliot_____________________________________________________ Personnel Dan Brown, Host Rachel Price, Host Emily Duncan, Editor Music Turtle Up Fool, by Elliot _____________________________________________________ Unchecked is a production of Curious Squid Curious Squid is a digital design consulting firm specializing in information architecture, user experience, and product design
About Unchecked: The architecture of disinformation
Misinformation and disinformation thrive in today’s technology landscape, and arguably present the greatest threat to modern society. Information architecture – the practice of designing and managing digital spaces – has an opportunity to intervene. This podcast looks at disinformation from an information architecture perspective, and considers ways to expand the practice of IA to address this new reality....What is Information Architecture?Information architecture is the practice of designing virtual structures – the shape and form of online spaces and digital products. When you click on a navigation menu or follow the steps in a process, you're experiencing the information architecture of a web site or digital product....What is disinformation?Understanding disinformation is the purpose of this podcast. We are trying to figure out exactly what it is and what it means. If information architecture is the practice of designing virtual spaces, then disinformation is something that can occupy that space to disrupt the user's experience. Alternatively, it is a way of manipulating the space (like flooding it with irrelevant facts) to achieve an end unrelated to the space's original intention.
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