The use of social media to access knowledge has contributed to a lack of trust in experts, according to a Dublin-based astrophysicist and philosopher who together are studying what makes experts trustworthy. Social media has been the “big game changer” in the loss of context to evaluate the trustworthiness of information, believes Prof Luke Drury, the astrophysicist based at Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. Maria Baghramian, professor in the school of philosophy at University College Dublin refers to the use of social media to access knowledge as a “context collapse”, adding that when we see information on social media or other internet sources “we [often] don’t know who the expert is”. Similar efforts to undermine scientific knowledge on fluoridation, vaccination, genetically modified foods and 5G networks have been spread across social media channels, he notes. In an increasingly digital society, Drury says social media platforms need to accept responsibility for the content they carry.

Source: The Irish Times October 31, 2019 00:56 UTC