Challenge Your Mind, Change The World

Fact vs. Opinion: Helping Your Teen Navigate Misinformation Online

• The Classic High School Teacher • Season 1 • Episode 15

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Misinformation has become a dominant force in today’s digital landscape, and teenagers are often the most vulnerable to its spread. 


In this compelling episode, we explore the fascinating psychology behind why smart individuals—even educators—can fall for fake news. 


We delve into the science of cognitive biases like confirmation bias, which can skew how teens perceive and react to information. This conversation sheds light on the emotional triggers that drive them toward sensational headlines and the role of social media algorithms in amplifying misleading news.

Empowering your teen to navigate this complex world is our ultimate goal.


 Learn practical, science-backed strategies designed to cultivate critical thinking skills among young people. 


Discover engaging challenges and tools that encourage discerning evaluation of content online, making fact-checking not just a necessity, but a fun part of their everyday life.

Ultimately, this episode serves as a call to action for parents: instead of dismissing viral claims, let’s partner with our teens to fact-check together, instilling essential skills that will last a lifetime. 


Join us in raising a generation of critical thinkers who are equipped to face the challenges of misinformation head-on! 


Be sure to subscribe, share, and join our community in empowering your teenagers today.

If you enjoyed today's episode, please take the time to rate our podcast. Your rating means the world to us and it allows us to continue to share and grow our message of support to other fabulous humans out there!

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Speaker 1:

Hello, welcome. You have arrived at. Challenge your Mind, change the World. This is the podcast where we dive into the latest science, psychology and real-world strategies to help you, as wonderful parents out there, raise confident, critical-thinking teens in today's world. I'm your host, francesca Hudson, and today's episode is one I think every parent needs right now. It's this Today we're talking about fact versus opinion, helping your teen to navigate misinformation online.

Speaker 1:

Super important, super relevant, because, let's be real, your teen or your tween spends hours online. Tiktok, youtube, instagram, discord and Reddit have become their primary sources of news, and while social media is great for connection, it's also a breeding ground, unfortunately, for misinformation. In fact, studies show that false news spreads six times yep, six times faster than the truth. So how do we, as parents and as educators and as mentors, help our teens become media savvy, fact-checking superheroes, rather than just passive consumers of misleading content? And that's exactly what we're tackling today, because I know, as a parent myself, my children spend a lot of time online and we got into really bad habits way back when we were in lockdown during COVID and ever since then we haven't really been able to wean ourselves off devices and off technology. So how do we manage this as parents. So today I'm going to be looking at the psychology behind why people fall for misinformation, and that includes even smart teenagers. We're going to be looking at how AI and algorithms fuel the spread of fake news, and I'm sticking very much to the center here. I'm not going off into any kind of opinion or political tangent, don't worry. I am just looking at how the science spreads fake news AI, algorithms, staying with science. We're also going to look at some practical, science-backed strategies to help your teen develop critical thinking skills for themselves strategies to help your teen develop critical thinking skills for themselves. And then, finally, I want to present a fact-checking challenge that makes learning fun for your family. So stick around, because by the end of this episode, you'll have some actionable ways to turn your teenager into a truth detective rather than a victim of online misinformation. So let's get started.

Speaker 1:

I thought I'd start with a burning question why do smart people, even adults, fall for fake news? Now, a 2023 study from MIT's Media Lab found that misinformation isn't just about intelligence. It's also about cognitive laziness, and this means that even well-educated people, including scientists and scholars, can fall for false information if they aren't actively engaging their critical thinking skills. This is why critical thinking is so important, such an important skill to start developing in our teens. So, in a world where content is endless, most of us don't deeply analyze every post headline video we encounter. Instead, we tend to skim or we tend to react emotionally and just move on. And when we're in that passive mode of consuming information, our brains rely on shortcuts, which is where misinformation sneaks in.

Speaker 1:

Here are the three biggest reasons people, especially teenagers, fall misinformation. The first reason is called the confirmation bias. We believe what aligns with our existing opinions. Have you ever noticed that when we see an article that aligns with what we already believe, we're more likely to trust it? Well, that's confirmation bias at work. For example, if someone already thinks video games make teenagers aggressive, they'll be more likely to believe an article titled new study confirms video games lead to violent behavior. Meanwhile, someone who believes the opposite might immediately dismiss the same study as flawed without even reading it. Now, this bias is powerful because it feels comfortable to accept things that sit into what we already know. For teens, who are still shaping their worldviews, this effect can be even stronger. So what do we do as a parent? Well, we can encourage our children and our teens to actively challenge their own opinions, and one way is to introduce the idea that a good researcher always looks at both sides. So try this pick a topic that your team feels really strongly about, like, for example, school uniforms or climate change or social media bans and have them find two articles, one that supports their view and one that contradicts it and then ask them if you were forced to argue the opposite opinion in a debate, how would you do it? Now, this trains their brain to be less emotionally reactive and more analytical.

Speaker 1:

Now, the second reason why teenagers tend to fall for misinformation is the emotional impact that it has. Fear and outrage spread way faster than facts. Unfortunately, this is true. Did you know that false news spreads six times that's six, six times faster than the truth on platforms like X, which was formerly Twitter, and Facebook? Now this comes directly. This fact comes from MIT Sloan in 2023. Now, the reason our brains are wired to react more strongly to negative or shocking information, and this is because, from an evolutionary standpoint, fear and outrage kept us alive back in the day, back in the caveman days, but unfortunately, it doesn't do well for us nowadays.

Speaker 1:

So imagine you see two headlines, so I'll give you an example. Imagine you see two headlines on your teenager's TikTok feed. The first headline says new study finds that smartphones have no impact on sleep patterns. The other headline says breaking Scientists discover smartphones are causing brain damage in teens. Which one is more likely to go viral? Well, the second headline plays on fear and urgency, making people more likely to share it instantly before checking if it's even true.

Speaker 1:

So what do we do as a parent when we come across this kind of thing? Well, we need to help our children pause before reacting. We need to teach them that the stronger the emotional response, the more important. It is to fact check, so you can try this at home. It is to fact check, so you can try this at home. Show your teenager a viral post that uses extreme language and what I mean by extreme is outrageous, shocking. You won't believe this that kind of propaganda style language. And then ask them why do you think this post was designed in this way? Then you can teach them the 90 second rule. So this is what it is If a post makes you angry or scared, wait 90 seconds before reacting.

Speaker 1:

Often that's enough time for the logical brain to kick in. In fact, you can try this 90 second rule in anything in life. Before you resist the urge to take somebody back who might be looking for a reaction, or if you're at home having a discussion with your partner, try the 90 second rule. It applies to all areas of the life, but this is particularly good to use with teenagers for looking at when there is content online that is trying to provoke a certain reaction from them. So I'll recap again. So if a post makes them angry or scared, you can ask your teenager this wait 90 seconds for reacting to it, because that's enough time for the logical brain to kick in with things before they jump in and start commenting or getting carried away.

Speaker 1:

Now the third reason why teenagers often fall for misinformation is we need to look at the teenage brain, and this is why misinformation hits so much harder with young people, because here's the real challenge Teenage brains are wired for quick reactions. The prefrontal cortex, which is the part responsible for critical thinking and for impulse control, isn't fully developed until around the age of 25. So this makes teenagers more likely to believe misinformation at face value. It makes them more likely to be more impulsive when sharing content and it makes them more emotionally driven when processing news. Now, this isn't a flaw I don't think this is a flaw as part of normal brain development but it means that, as parents and as educators, we need to guide our teenagers towards slower, more deliberate thinking.

Speaker 1:

And here is my action tip for you. I like to call it the headline challenge. So show your teen another two contradicting headlines, such as caffeine is good for you and caffeine causes early death, and ask them which one do you believe and why? Then have them research both articles and break down, firstly, who wrote the article, what sources did they use, and is the claim backed by science or just opinion? Now, this simple exercise activates the analytical brain rather than letting them passively accept what they see, and this is so important. We really want to start encouraging these critical thinking skills as early as we can with our children and our teenagers, because, at the end of the day, we can't stop misinformation from existing, but we can help our teenagers build the tools they need to think critically, to analyze sources and to make informed decisions. When they learn to challenge the information instead of just blindly accepting it, they gain a superpower that will serve them for life. So the next time your teen comes to you with a viral TikTok claim, instead of saying that's fake news, try saying, instead, let's fact check this together, because by making media literacy a shared experience, you're actually helping them build a skill that will change how they see the world. So that brings us to how social media algorithms fuel misinformation, because our world is changing and social media plays a role in all of this.

Speaker 1:

We all know that tech companies like TikTok, youtube, instagram and Facebook make billions of dollars every year, but how do they actually make their money? Well, it all comes down to one thing your attention. The longer you stay on a platform, the more ads they can show you, and to keep you scrolling, they use sophisticated AI-powered algorithms that personalize your thing to show you more of what you already engage with. Now, this we know, and on the surface, this sounds great, because who doesn't want content tailored to their interests, right. But here's the problem with that Algorithms prioritize engagement, not truth. So this means that false or misleading information that triggers emotions spreads faster than factual content. Instead, according to a 2023 study by Pew Research, misinformation spreads up to 70% faster than the truth 7-0, 70. It's worrying.

Speaker 1:

So how do social media algorithms work? I think we need to look at this to see what is going on here and to understand why misinformation spreads so easily. We do need to understand how algorithms work, and here's a simple breakdown for you. I'll be super fast. So, number one every time you like, share or comment on something, the platform takes notes on it. Then the algorithm learns your interests and starts showing you more content, just like it. And then this creates the feedback loop. You keep seeing similar content over and over again, reinforcing your beliefs. This is why, after 10 clicks on one conspiracy video, suddenly their entire feed is filled with more conspiracy theories.

Speaker 1:

Now I know that we all roughly know how algorithms work on social media, but to show you the seriousness of this, I'll give you an example, and the example is the TikTok NASA hoax in 2022. So one of the biggest misinformation trends on TikTok in 2022 was a viral claim that NASA had confirmed the Earth would experience three days of total darkness. Now millions, millions of teens shared it, truly believing it was real. Why did this headline spread so fast? Well, the headline was shocking. It was fear-based content which spreads faster. Let me know. Teenagers started engaging with it, commenting things like oh my, omg, this is true. Tiktok's algorithm noticed the hype engagement and pushed it to even more users, and then, before long, it became a global trend, even though NASA had never made any such statement. Now imagine the same pattern happening with political misinformation or health myths and manipulated videos. If one piece of false information catches fire, it can spread worldwide within hours.

Speaker 1:

Now why is this a problem? Well, teenagers are especially vulnerable to algorithm driven misinformation because they consume most of their news through social media. To algorithm-driven misinformation because they consume most of their news through social media, and a 2023 study from Reuters Institute for Journalism found that over 60, 60% of teens get their news primarily from TikTok, youtube and Instagram and, unlike traditional news sources, these platforms don't prioritize accuracy. Unfortunately, they prioritize engagement. Don't prioritize accuracy. Unfortunately, they prioritize engagement. And also our teenagers' brains are wired for quick emotional reactions. We talked earlier about how the prefrontal cortex, which is the part of the brain that controls reasoning and impulse control, isn't fully developed until about age 25, right? So this means that teenagers are more likely to react emotionally rather than critically, and so when they see headlines like this on platforms like YouTube and Instagram, they're not looking for accuracy, they're filtering the news through emotion.

Speaker 1:

Our teenagers also get stuck in filter bubbles or echo chambers. Unfortunately, because the algorithm only shows them content that they already agree with. They're really going to see opposing viewpoints or fact-based counter-arguments, and they don't want to see them anyway, even if they were presented online, they're not looking for that kind of content, unfortunately. So the result is a world where our children believe something is true simply because they've seen it enough times, not because it's actually based in fact. That's such an important distinction a world where our children believe something is true simply because they've seen it enough times, not because it's actually based in fact. I've said it twice now, because this is exactly what happens when misinformation spreads and it gains credibility because people have seen it often enough.

Speaker 1:

Now, one of the best ways to help our kids and help our teenagers understand the power of algorithms is to show them in real time. So here's a fun and eye-opening experiment that you can do together at home. So step one is to ask your teen to only like or watch cat videos for one day on TikTok or YouTube. I've got a funny story, actually, but I'll tell you in a minute. The next day, have them open their feed. What do they see? Nothing but cat videos, and you can use this as a teachable moment. You could say something like see how the algorithm quickly adjusted to only showing you cat content. The same thing happens with news and opinions. If you only engage with one type of information, you'll only see that perspective, whether it's true or not. With one type of information, you'll only see that perspective, whether it's true or not. So, in a sense, the algorithm is invisible, but when we bring it to our conscious awareness, like the cat video test that you can do at home, it suddenly makes the algorithm visible, which is a very powerful lesson for a teen.

Speaker 1:

So now that we understand why social media platforms are designed in this way, let's talk about what you can do as a parent to help your kids think critically about their online experience. We can encourage them to follow a variety of sources. So, instead of relying on one social media feed, we could suggest, maybe, that they check multiple sources when researching a topic, and a good rule of thumb is to follow at least one credible news organization. So, for example, bbc, reuters, npr, alongside their usual content on TikTok. We can teach them to ask who benefits from me believing this, because every viral post has that purpose, whether sometimes it's just engagement, but other times it's pushing an agenda, and it can be a very subtle agenda. So we need to ask our children and ask our teens why do you think this post was made? Who benefits if you believe it benefits, if you believe it Now? This simple question forces them to think critically. We can also introduce slow thinking online, so social media has built fast emotional reactions. By encouraging our children and our teenagers to pause before sharing or believing something that they see online, it means that we can slow down their emotional reaction, and good rule of thumb with this is if it makes you angry or afraid, you need to verify it first before going ahead and commenting on it, because, at the end of the day, we can't change how social media works, but we can teach our teenagers how to outsmart the algorithm by questioning what they see breaking out of echo chambers and thinking for themselves. Instead of saying don't believe everything you see on TikTok, maybe try saying instead let's look deeper and figure out why this information is being pushed to you. Because by making media literacy a collaborative experience, you're empowering your children to think critically, which is one of the most valuable skills they'll ever have.

Speaker 1:

All right, let's talk about one of the most subtle yet powerful ways that misinformation spreads. We've talked about social media. Let's go a little bit deeper and look at something called the illusory truth-seeked. Now, this psychological phenomenon explains why people believe things that aren't true just because they've heard them so many times. What is the illusory truth effect? Well, the illusory truth effect, if I'm saying it correctly, is when repetition creates belief.

Speaker 1:

I touched on this briefly earlier. I want to go a little bit deeper into it now and simply put if you hear or see something enough times, your brain starts accepting it as true, even if it's completely false. This effect works even on highly intelligent people, unfortunately, it's true, and it doesn't matter if the person was skeptical at first. Repetition slowly wears them down, and it's a key tactic in propaganda and advertising and in social media misinformation. So how can we let this happen If we know the sky is blue? How can we gradually believe the sky is green if someone tells us enough times it sounds impossible, but actually there's a science behind it. The brain is wired to favor familiarity over effort-filled thinking. Right, it's easier for your brain to say I've heard this before, so it must be true, than it is for your brain to say wait, let me double check my sources and critically analyze this. So this is why misinformation spreads so effectively online because people are online when they're during an ad break on TV or they've had a hard day and they're at home having a drink, relaxing on the couch scrolling through their feed. They're not into wanting to double check and pick check things, and I'll give you an example of what I mean.

Speaker 1:

I don't know if you've heard of the vaccine autism myth, but one of the biggest examples of the illusory truth effect happened in the early 2000s. Now, the false claim was this vaccines cause autism. Now, even though multiple scientific studies have completely debunked this myth, millions of people still believe it today. Why? Because they've heard it so many times, and I'll tell you how this misinformation spread. So in the 1990s, a now highly discredited study falsely claimed a link between vaccines and autism. The study was debunked and retracted, but by then, media and celebrities had picked up on it and the claim was repeated so often on news reports, on talk shows and on social media that it felt true to many people, even without evidence. And that's exactly how the illusory truth of Beck works the more you hear a claim, the more familiar and believable it becomes. Now imagine this same pattern happening on TikTok and YouTube, but at a lightning speed. We're talking within seconds. It's spread around the world, and our teenagers are especially vulnerable to the illusory truth effect, because our teens spend hours on social media, where misinformation can spread faster and scientific research can correct it. And here's what happens A false claim can go viral on TikTok eg, nasa confirmed the earth is going dark for three days, like we talked about.

Speaker 1:

It gets reposted and reshared thousands of times, and even if a teen didn't believe it at first, they start thinking well, everyone's talking about it, so maybe it is true. And then it becomes common knowledge. I say that in inverted commas common knowledge, even though it's completely false. This is how conspiracy theories and misinformation trends thrive. For example, the birds aren't real hoax. Look at another one. So a viral conspiracy theory claimed that all birds are actually government surveillance drones. Now, it started as a satirical joke, but because it was repeated so many times, some people actually started believing it, and even though there's zero, zero scientific evidence, thousands of young people fell for the joke turned conspiracy because they kept seeing it everywhere. And so the key takeaway from all of this is that if your teenager or your young person keeps seeing a claim on TikTok, youtube or Instagram, it can start feeling true, even if it has no real evidence. So what can we do as parents and educators? Well, since repetition tricks the brain, your teenager might not even realize they're being influenced, but you can help them break free by making them aware of how this works.

Speaker 1:

And here are three simple ways to help your young person fight back against the illusory truth effect. The first step is where did you first hear this? Okay, we call this breaking the chain when did you first hear that? So the next time your teenager makes a bold claim, ask them where did you first hear this? Have you seen it multiple times and did you check if it's true? Or does it just feel true because it's everywhere? Now, these three questions forces them to slow down and think critically instead of just repeating something they saw online. Now, these three questions are so important I'm going to say them again. Where did you first hear this? Have you seen it multiple times and did you check if it's true? Or does it just feel true because it's everywhere? So that's step one. We want to break the chain. Then step two is the repetition doesn't mean truth rule and you can teach your young person the simple media rule. Just because you see something everywhere, it doesn't mean it's true.

Speaker 1:

You can use examples like false health claims eg. Drinking lemon water burns belly fat. You can use examples like political misinformation. You can use examples like celebrity rumors. The internet is rife with false news. You can pick anything. So you can encourage your young people to question things instead of just accepting them. And we're not talking about who's right or wrong here. All we're doing is teaching our young people some questioning habits, to start developing their critical thinking brain Question things rather than just accept them.

Speaker 1:

And then step three is the source tracking challenge, and this is making sure that our young people are learning how to fact check like a pro. So, instead of stopping at a viral TikTok video, you could help your teenager trace the information back to the original source, and here's how you can do it. So find a viral claim and search for where it originally came from. Then you can ask your teenager or your young person to dig deeper. Is it from a credible source or is it just being repeated by influencers, because they have a huge part to play in all this too. What products or beliefs that influencers push can resonate very, very deeply with young people. So we want to make sure that our teenagers know where these viral claims are coming from, and then we want to compare it to reputable sources like BBC or Reuters or the CDC. Now, when young people realise how many viral claims are just copied without verification, it really empowers them to think critically before believing something.

Speaker 1:

The illusory truth effect is powerful, but so is media literacy, which is what we can teach our young people. So instead of just telling your teenager that's fake news, try saying let's figure out if this is true together. When young people learn how misinformation spreads, they become less likely to fall for it, and that's a superpower that they'll use for life. Now I know what you're thinking. How do I get my teen to actually care about any of this? Let's be honest sitting down and lecturing your teen about media literacy isn't going to work. I know, I get it, I get that. But gamifying the process, on the other hand, well, that's a different story. So let's turn fact-checking into a challenge, a fun, interactive way for your teenager to become a misinformation detective without even realizing they're learning. I've got some fun ways you can do this. So here's how it works. Find three viral claims online eg sharks can live for 400 years, or NASA discovered a new planet that could support human life. Then have your teen prove or debunk them using the strategies we've covered, and then you can offer a small reward. The best fact checker like letting them choose what's for dinner, picking a family movie. This simple challenge taps into their curiosity and turns critical thinking into a bit of a game instead of a chore.

Speaker 1:

Now, one of my favorite and most powerful fact-checking tools that most people don't even know about is the Google reverse image search. What is it, you ask me? Well, instead of searching with words, google reverse image search lets you upload an image to find out where it originally came from. How cool is that? Now why it matters.

Speaker 1:

Fake images are everywhere, whether it's a deep fake celebrity scandal, a photoshopped news photo or an out of context image used to push a false narrative. Your team needs to know how to verify what they're looking at. For example, in 2020, a viral image claimed to show a shark swimming down a flooded highway after a hurricane, and it was shared millions of times as proof of the extreme storm damage. But the image had actually been circulating since 2012, 2011 and it was completely fake. It was photoshopped using a stock image of a shark in a highway from a totally different event.

Speaker 1:

Now, how could your teen have spotted this? By doing a Google reverse image search. So how do we do it? Okay, so I'll tell you. So step one is to find a suspicious or shocking looking image, so, for example, a celebrity scandal photo, or an unbelievable weather event or a viral conspiracy meme. And then step two is to right click on the image and select search image with Google, or you could go to imagesgooglecom and upload it there. And then step three is to see where else the image has appeared online. And then step four is to ask your young person was the image taken out of context? Was it edited? Is it from a credible source? So simple, but so effective.

Speaker 1:

Now, if you want to make this even more fun, then you can try the fake photo detective game with your young person. So what you could do is find three viral images or memes so two are real and one is fake. Then challenge your young person to investigate which one is false using the Google reverse image search, and then you can reward them if they prove which image was manipulated and this sort of hands-on activity really turns media literacy into a bit of a detective mission and makes it way more engaging than just a simple lecture, because teens love a challenge and when you make fact checking fun, then they'll start using these tools without even realizing they're building critical thinking skills. By the end of this challenge, I guarantee your teen will question information before believing it, they'll learn to develop real world media literacy skills and they'll be more skeptical of viral trends and fake news and, most importantly, they'll know how to navigate the internet with confidence. So the next time they come to you with a crazy viral claim, instead of just saying that's fake news, you could say let's fact check it together, because teaching them how to think critically is way more powerful than just telling them what to believe. All right, let's wrap this up.

Speaker 1:

Today we tackled one of the biggest challenges of raising a young person in the digital age. It's helping them separate fact from fiction in a world overloaded with information. Oh, my goodness, it is overloaded, and so here's a quick recap of what we covered, because we went through. We got through a lot today. We looked at why even smart people fall for misinformation. We learned about cognitive bias like confirmation bias and the illiterate truth effect that make us more likely to believe false information, even when we think we're being critical. We looked at how social media fuels fake news. We broke down how algorithms prioritize engagement over accuracy, creating echo chambers that reinforce what we already believe, unfortunately. We looked at practical, science-backed strategies to teach media literacy, and we explored some simple yet powerful tools that you can use to help your team think critically about the content that they consume online. And finally, we finished with a fun challenge to make fact-checking a habit. We turned media literacy into a game by challenging your teen to debunk viral claims, to spot fake photos and prove what's real using fact-checking tools.

Speaker 1:

Now why does all this matter? Well, the internet isn't going anywhere, whether you like it or not, and misinformation isn't slowing down either. But here's the thing Our teenagers don't have to be passive consumers of false information, and, as parents, we can help them. We can really equip them. We can give them the tools to question, analyze and fact check. We're empowering them to think for themselves, and that's not just about avoiding fake news. It's about becoming a critical thinker in all areas of life.

Speaker 1:

It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the speed and the volume of misinformation online. But instead of fighting against technology, we can really teach our teenagers and our young people how to use it wisely. The goal isn't to make them distrust everything. It's to equip them with the skills to navigate the digital world with confidence. So the next time that your teen she's a wild claim from TikTok, instead of dismissing it, try saying that's interesting. Let's fact check it together, because when we teach them how to think, not just what to think, we're setting them up for a lifetime of smart decision making. So thank you so much for listening to this episode of Challenge your Mind, change the World. If you enjoyed this episode, do me a favor. I would be so grateful to subscribe, leave a review and share this with another parent who could use these tips. Your support helps us reach more families and empower more young people. Until next time, keep questioning, keep learning and, most importantly, keep empowering your teen to think for themselves. Bye for now.

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