I’ve missed out on so many diseases – whooping cough, diptheria, rubella, polio, tuberculosis – as a result of being inoculataed against them at an early age. And I am very grateful.
Now it seems that people can be ‘inoculated’ against spreading misinformation too.
By showing people youtube videos explaining the techniques used to manipulate them into liking and sharing, it seems people are more able to spot the manipulation happening in other videos.
That’s good news I think.
The bad news is that these videos are being developed by Google, who will decide which societies are ‘in need of’ inoculation.
The techniques are well known and have been used for centuries by politicians, newspapers and advertisers.
Perhaps, instead of relying on the kindness of Google, we could inoculate people early, and just start teaching this stuff in schools?