The Seven Types Of People Who Spread Misinformation On Social Media

Human behavior is fascinating to me especially lately. During this pandemic we have all seen the good the bad and the ugly when it comes to social media. What people post, what people choose to believe, and the amount of misinformation individuals share.

This article I read on BBC.com is very interesting, it breaks down the seven types of people who spread lies or falsehoods. The Joker is someone who posts something they make up as a prank and then asks their followers to share. They will create fake screenshots, videos, or voicemails that seem real to get them to go viral.

Then you have the scammer who will use fake news to create some sort of scam to finesse people out their money or personal information. Often times they may pose as the government or in the current climate use a “cure” for the coronavirus  to get money or information.

Conspiracy theorist are the up next and whew chile there are a lot of them! One of the big conspiracies right now is this 5G making people sick instead of the actual virus and/or it was linked to COVID-19. That misinformation spread faster than wildfire on Facebook. Facebook and YouTube took down the initial video and posts that started the 5G misinformation. Fun Fact – the COVID-19 and 5G link was the most posted and shared misinformation posts.

Up next is the Insider and Relative. The article listed them separately however, for the sake of relating to this one locally I’ve put them together. There was a voicemail went viral on Facebook from a woman with a southern accent who worked for the government. The woman in the voicemail sent it to all of her family members warning them. She said the country will go on lock down, stores will close, and homeland security is preparing the national guard.

Last but not least the celebrity and the politician. President Donald Trump, again I’m going with the two for one here. The President in a press conference asked about injecting people with disinfectant. That was enough misinformation to have hundreds of people calling poison control and emergency hotlines.

To read more on the seven types of people who spread misinformation go to BBC.com.

Are you one of those people or do you know someone who spreads misinformation? If so text your experience and how you found out the truth to 678-1039.