Long ago, war’s first casualty has been known to be the truth. Although social media makes it possible for eye witnesses in the field to report on what is happening, many platforms also provide a biased account due the spreading of misinformation, disinformation, or both.

These videos, which were “deepfakes” and featuring both Volodymyr and Vladimir Putin as Ukrainian presidents, have appeared in recent weeks. Many images and videos, however, have been shown out of context.

We can be skeptical about believing anything if one fake post is posted.

“Misinformation generally comes in two broad flavors – intentional and unintentional. Unintentional misinformation, which is less pervasive, refers to the propagation of stories, memes or narratives one finds amusing and interesting. A viral urban legend is misinformation. However, it’s not usually dangerous.” explained William V. Pelfrey Jr. Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs.

The battle against intentional misinformation continues, and is waged both by the state as well as non-state actors. Russian news continues to provide a steady stream of misinformation for the Russian people,” Pelfrey stated. Pelfrey said that the promised de-Nazification (or “de-Nazification”) of Ukraine, which elected a Jewish president is an example.

Ukrainians responded by launching their misinformation campaigns.

Pelfrey stated that Pelfrey gave an example of Russian conscripts captured and imploring not to be returned to Russia. “While there may be some prisoners who don’t want to return, portraying Russian prisoners as cowards serves many purposes – bolstering the confidence of Ukrainian soldiers, demoralizing Russian soldiers, and denigrating Putin’s authority.”

Real Time Watching The War

The social media revolution has made it possible to document this conflict in a way previously impossible. It is truly the first social media war, but in addition to allowing anyone with a camera phone to chronicle their story, it is also allowing misinformation – and even disinformation – to flow faster than ever.

Kent Bausman (Ph.D.), professor of sociology at Maryville University’s Online Sociology Program, stated that “the principal reason some may argue that this war is the most documented to this point is because there is considerable misinformation regarding the war in Ukraine.”

Social media gives the mass the chance to be their own independent reporter and document the conflict. Bausman added that, although we now have more information about the events on the ground this new reality allows us to document them better, but it’s still not possible to set up the proper mechanism for verifying such documentation.”

Media coverage has been influenced by technology in many ways. Since the American Civil War was when photography first became popular, and the way that the Telegraph allowed for news to quickly travel long distances via the telephone lines has proven this to be true.

Where social media is different is that it is allowing opinion to also enter in the picture – and not just …read more

Source:: Social Media Explorer

Author: Aaron