Here’s the interesting thing about writing a corporate security agent with a specialty in premises liability—I am forever out of my league research-wise.
Trey Seaver (the agent in question) is a badass at managing information. He’s got a background in SWAT, yes, but his best work is done behind a desk. That man knows his way around an actuarial table. He has yet to meet a spreadsheet that can get the best of him. And he can design a data flow diagram like nobody’s business.
I…cannot do these things. So I spend a lot of time researching topics like real-time non-uniformity corrections so that when Trey speaks, he actually knows what he’s talking about (even if I don’t).
Which brings me to Book #8, the next case that he and Tai will tackle. I have neither title nor timeline, but I do have an opening scene (yay) and the topic I want to explore—how those of nefarious mind can use ever-evolving technologies (especially those technologies connected with social media and the proliferation of AI) to deceive, coerce, and manipulate. It’s a stalk-and-scam paradise for criminals, and their favorite prey is people without basic information literacy.
That’s why I picked up this book at my local independent bookstore: True of False: A CIA Analyst’s Guide to Spotting Fake News. One of the first things I learned is that false information a not a new problem (it’s been happening for centuries) and that even though it may seem harmless at times, it creates a very real security risk to individuals, communities, and governments because it trains people to be easily fooled. But I’m learning that I don’t have to be a licensed security agent like Trey to fight it, that I can help make a safer and more secure world for all of us by sharpening my own discernment.
Check out the book if you’re interested. I also found some excellent websites if you would like to improve your “social media lie detector” ability.
MediaWise—a nonpartisan, nonprofit initiative of The Poynter Institute—provides online educational content and fact-checking training through their short online course. It teaches you how to outsmart algorithms, detect falsehoods, and make decisions based on factual information. Plus, it’s currently free: https://www.poynter.org/shop/fact-checking/how-to-spot-misinformation-online-july-2021/
Perhaps you think you’ve already got the chops to spot a bunch of lies masquerading as a news story? Here’s two quizzes that test your misinformation susceptibility.
The first is from ABC Education, an online education resource developed to support primary and secondary students in Australia. This quiz asks you to look at headlines, images, articles, and sources to decide if what you’re reading is real news, misinformation, or satire. Apparently I am not as smart as an Australian middle-schooler: https://games.abc.net.au/res/media-literacy/fake-news/index.html
The second is the Misinformation Susceptibility Test (MIST) created through a project at Cambridge University (you can take the quiz just for fun, or you can contribute your results to the ongoing research—your choice): https://yourmist.streamlit.app/
As Trey would say, there’s no such thing as 100% safe. Any time you venture into the online world, you’re mingling amongst the wolves. But with a solid set of media literacy tools in your kit, at least you won’t mistake them for sheep.