The Grassroots Connector – “…Pre-bunking uses videos, social media, even an online game to help people detect the age-old tactics of misinformation. These tactics, familiar to most of us but seemingly undetected among FOX News addicts, include: scapegoating, impersonation, emotional and/or divisive language, gaslighting, red herrings, conspiracy theories, and a dozen other garden variety deceits. By explaining each tactic, then showing specific examples, pre-bunking trains the gullible to be suspicious, very suspicious. Most of us would have balked at believing Haitian immigrants were eating dogs and cats, but. . . With pre-bunking, even a devout Trumper can be taught to think twice. So where can you get your pre-bunking boots? Grassroots groups are already on the job. Here are a few:
- Indivisible’s Truth Brigade
- Google Pre-bunking
- “Cranky Uncle” — this game teaches you to spot misinformation about climate change. Available at app stores.
Once you learn to spot the rhetorical deceits behind “fake news,” spread the word. Your own social media accounts might be a place to start, posting links to “Bad News,” “Cranky Uncle,” or Indivisible’s Truth Brigade. Next, if you have any Trumper friends or family still talking to you, sit them down — soon — and go over some techniques of misinformation. Remember: it’s not about winning arguments, it’s about helping people think and question. On into the post-truth age, pre-bunking offers hope for critical thinking, for truth, perhaps for democracy itself…”
