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Key points
- When someone is lost down a disinformation rabbit hole, they believe they see reality and that others are misinformed.
- The best method for saving someone from a disinformation rabbit hole is to keep them from sliding down one.
- Once someone is down a disinformation rabbit hole, the only effective method will require changing their overall information environment.
One of us has fallen down a rabbit hole. We see a version of the world divorced from reality. But the question is: Who? Is it you, or is it me?
When I write about disinformation, I often get emails from people who disagree with me. Many of these emails aren’t very interesting. Emails filled with insults and anger don’t influence my thinking. But other emails are more interesting. These are from people who are completely convinced in their worldview. They invite me to examine the evidence, to see the world from their perspective. They share websites, video links, and other information. They agree that someone is lost down a rabbit hole, but they’re sure it’s me.
Who Is Lost in a Rabbit Hole?
People often become convinced that their rabbit hole is reality. They see a set of internally consistent information. They follow from one idea to related links. They’ve often worked hard to accumulate this information. They followed leads, read articles, and watched videos. They’re rarely exposed to other views. They are convinced they have climbed a up mountain, not slid down a rabbit hole. They believe they see better than others. They’ve concluded that others are the ones who have slid down a rabbit hole.
Unfortunately, their information reflects a set of disinformation.
Of course, they think the same about me. They think I have come to believe a false narrative. They think my views on climate change, vaccines, or the 2020 election reflect disinformation campaigns. From each of our perspectives, we see a coherent worldview and one that fits with our social groups.
Avoiding Rabbit Holes
The best way to save someone from a rabbit hole is to keep them from falling into it. People can become better at critically evaluating information. When encountering a new claim, try using the SIFT method developed by Mike Caulfield. SIFT = Stop, Investigate, Find, Trace. Stop or Slow down before following a new lead.
Investigate the source of information; check its overall reliability. Find trusted sources to help you assess a new claim. And Trace the origin of the new claim. Following this approach helps you conduct a lateral search–rather than moving down the rabbit hole, you widen your knowledge and sources to better assess the claim’s reliability.
Pulling Someone Out of a Rabbit Hole
But when someone is far down a rabbit hole, critical thinking won’t be effective. These same critical thinking skills will undermine any attempt to provide different and more reliable information. People can use these same critical thinking skills to dismiss new information. The new information won’t be consistent with their existing knowledge or the sources they trust. They can point to or find others who describe the weaknesses with the new evidence.
I have tried and failed to pull friends and family out of disinformation rabbit holes. About a decade ago, for example, I had a long email exchange with a retired colleague who had worked his way down a climate change denial rabbit hole. He believed our current climate reflected normal variation and that humans weren’t responsible for any changes.
We exchanged information and considered each other’s views. I read the material he sent me. I pointed out that the information was selectively biased in what data it presented and was funded by oil companies. I’m not sure he ever read what I sent because he never addressed it. We had multiple interactions, but neither of us changed our minds.
Similarly, I had a conversation with a family member last year about Covid vaccines. She was worried and had clearly been exposed to several pieces of vaccine misinformation. I replied with correcting information and later sent her the Covid Vaccine Communication Handbook. All to no avail. I learned later in the year that she had caught Covid and still wasn’t vaccinated.
Providing new information when someone is far down a rabbit hole is often ineffective.
Maybe you’ve had similar interactions with friends or family. You end up with completely different views on the actual state of the world–not simply different opinions. How can we manage conversations? How can we determine the actual state of the world? And how can we come to an agreement about reality? How can we save someone who is lost in a rabbit hole?
Climbing Out of the Rabbit Hole
There is a solution, a way for people to climb out of their rabbit hole. People must change their information environment. When someone changes the basic flow of information, their minds will follow.
I was struck by one of the witnesses in the January 6th committee hearings, Stephen Ayres, who was part of the attack on the Capitol. He noted that he had followed everything about the disinformation campaign that the election was stolen. But when he returned home after January 6th, he dropped his social media accounts and changed his information environment. He backed away and checked what he believed against other sources. He realized he had believed a lie.
This is the hope–that a combination of reality and better sources of information can change minds. If people continue to stick with the same rabbit hole of disinformation, they won’t be able to update their views or change their minds. They will only be able to climb out of the rabbit hole by expanding their set of information.
And this is an important piece of advice for all of us. Anyone can follow a set of information down a rabbit hole. We need to check our beliefs against reality and use reliable sources constantly.
