Private: Blog


How COVID Longhaulers Are Building Community Online

There are more than 110,000 members of the Facebook Group ‘Survivor Corps,’ ranging from those who have had COVID-19, to families of those who have it, to those that are interested in learning more about the symptoms and experience of those who have been through the mysterious illness. Survivor Corps says it aims to help stem the tide of the pandemic and assist in the national recovery and has a standalone website with pages on events, surveys, and post-COVID care centers.


Specific Targets Of Disinformation: Christians And Hispanic Voters

There are 32-million Hispanic citizens eligible to vote in the upcoming election according to the Pew Research Center, making it the largest minority group of voters in the country. Many of these citizens reside in swing states – Arizona, Florida, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Texas — and winning their vote is vital to winning the election. A report by MIT Technology Review released this week, says that because of their pivotal role in the election, Hispanic communities are being bombarded by online propaganda.


A Lesson In Disinformation: Fake Voting Mail Boxes Identified In Southern California

While the California Republican party asserts placing fake ballot boxes in public places is not illegal, many people are outraged that non-official boxes have been planted in their communities, and will not be collected by election officials. It points to an important distinction about the faith citizens can put into the vote by mail process, and if the owners of the fake boxes will deliver all of the ballots they collect.


October 2020: An Update On UCIPT Research

The less online pandemic-related information you seek out the less anxiety you may have, according to a new baseline study from the University of California Institute for Prediction Technology. The research was undertaken by UCIPT’s Dominic Ugarte and written by Parvati Singh. It was published in the Journal […]


The Social Dilemma: Should Your Thoughts Be Monetized?

The underlying issue that the Netflix docudrama raises is that the monetization of social media platforms is leading to unfavorable outcomes among individuals and ultimately society. The need to retain eyeballs and create revenue has led to what was once considered ethically positive or benign social media products, to be reconsidered as harmful by those that created them. So how do these platforms create big systemic changes in societies? The answer is in changing the thoughts of one individual at a time.


Misinformation Versus Disinformation: What’s The Difference?

The delta between the terms ‘misinformation’ and ‘disinformation,’ comes down to intent. The less-used term disinformation is defined as deliberate, often orchestrated attempts to “confuse or manipulate people through delivering dishonest information to them.’’ Misinformation on the other hand, is defined as misleading information, either created or disseminated without manipulative or malicious intent.