Fact-Forward Energy: Boost the Truth Before Fake News Takes Over Your Feed

We recently posted Our Guide to Navigating Midterm Misinformation and More, so you know what to do when information disorder infiltrates your feed. But what if you could stop fake news before it starts?

Instead of always playing defense, go on the offense. While fact-checking and debunking fake news in our feeds is important, this reactionary approach is too often overcome by the sheer speed and volume (thanks, bots!) of misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation (otherwise known as information disorder) plaguing social media. But we have options!

Debunking, Meet Prebunking

Rather than reactively debunking–challenging falsehoods or trying to change people’s minds–prebunking is a preventative tactic. It’s about proactively flooding the feed with the facts–sharing these facts early and often. It's stating the truth—locking in the lore and sharing the receipts—before the lies can even get started.

Prebunking aims to establish the truth as default, so that audiences are better prepared to recognize and resist information disorder when it happens. Think of it like this: would you rather pack sunscreen for a day at the beach or pack aloe vera creams and cold compresses for when you get burned? Prebunking is protecting yourself–debunking is damage control.

Verified, by Science

Prebunking isn’t some new trend. Psychologists refer to it as “inoculation theory” or “attitudinal inoculation" and have been studying it for literally decades–since the 1960s! And, their research has proven attitudinal inoculation to be effective among a diversity of cultures and across a breadth of topics (Jigsaw 2021). It’s like a digital vaccine–no needles necessary. When you share small doses of the truth early, your community becomes resistant to big lies later. 

Why It Works  

Our brains are wired to believe what we see or hear first. And, once we believe something, it can be hard to change our minds. Prebunking works because it involves putting the facts first–sharing true information before false information has a chance to go viral.

Another benefit of prebunking? It typically involves providing basic truths in a dispassionate, rational manner–no judgements, no accusations, just the facts. And people are more likely to believe the facts when they don’t feel attacked (which can happen when we try to debunk false information). 

How It Works: Our Election Education Example  

Here’s an example of how this can work for you: You want to help your friends get ready for an upcoming election so you explain: 

• US citizens aged 18 or older at the time of the election are eligible to vote.
• In addition to being eligible, anyone who wants to vote has to register–and provide evidence to verify their eligibility to do so (pro tip: share voter education, registration, and related resources from our IGNITE the Vote page).
• There are multiple checkpoints in the system to ensure only eligible voters actually vote–for example, a poll worker will ask for a name and identification and then verify the name is in their list of registered voters before giving the potential voter a ballot.
• There have been cases of voter fraud, but they are extremely rare and are investigated and documented. 

Prebunking Made Easy: Three Simple Steps  

We know there are a lot of facts floating around that you could share on any given issue, and it's easy to feel overwhelmed–and to let that feeling paralyze you from posting at all! We’ve put together a simple three-step strategy to help you get started–complete with another easy-to-understand example. You can apply this strategy to virtually any topic, which is why we want to illustrate this with a callback to our sunscreen analogy. The information we want to promote is simply this: It’s important to wear sunscreen to protect your skin, even when it’s cloudy or overcast outside.

1. Begin with the basics. 
Clarity is key when introducing information that may be new to your audience, so keep it simple. For example: Ultraviolet (UV) rays that come from the sun are invisible and can cause your skin to age (UVA) and burn (UVB). Sunscreen absorbs UV rays and prevents sun damage.

2. Dive a little deeper.
Demystify the details with evidence that everyone can understand. Analogies, infographics, and brief informational videos (referencing reliable, reputable nonpartisan sources) are great for this. For example: UV rays can pass through clouds, so if it’s overcast outside, they can still reach your skin. This is why you need sunscreen, even on cloudy days. Compare a cloud to a tee-shirt. If you spill water on yourself, the skin beneath the tee-shirt is going to get wet, just not as wet as your bare skin. Similarly, if you spend a day at the beach on an overcast day, the sun’s UV rays will still reach you, just not as much as if the sky were clear.

3. Preempt potential arguments.
Warn people about the types of counter-arguments they might see. For example: You may see anecdotal arguments, like “I never wear sunscreen when it is cloudy and I’m fine,” which rely on one person’s experience to negate documented evidence, or scare tactics that rely on false claims like “sunscreen causes cancer,” which aim to weaponize confusion and villanize true experts.

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Be a Truth-Teller. Boost the Truth Today.

Being algorithm proof isn’t just about being a social media skeptic. It’s about being an architect of the truth. When we share the facts early, and often, we make the algorithm work for us, not against us. What truths will you share today?