The 2023 Edelman Trust Barometer was released last month, and a surprising top-line finding was that businesses are now the most trusted institution. That trust puts employers in a position of accountability, and they have a duty of care to be honest and ethical. But in a world rife with misinformation, are they up to the challenge?
Professor Sander van der Linden is the Director of the Cambridge Social Decision-Making Lab at the University of Cambridge and has pioneered research in the world of combating fake news and misinformation. His upcoming book, Foolproof: Why We Fall for Misinformation and How to Build Immunity, has important lessons for leaders and internal communicators.
Van der Linden likens the spread of misinformation to the spread of a virus. The person posting the misinformation is analogous to someone who is contagious. The mode of transmission, such as social media or word of mouth, impacts the speed of infection from the misinformation. Finally, the contact rate is how many people come into contact with the misinformation. In the age of social media, millions of people can be exposed to misinformation in a matter of minutes. What's more, van der Linden's book cites research showing that falsehoods spread significantly faster and more broadly in all categories of information.
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