Terry Cane, Chief Operating Officer of SEOHost.net, examines the harm misinformation has caused on Facebook and the role marketing experts have in preventing it
Terry Cane, COO of global SSL service domain registration and SEO hosting provider SEOHost.net, reflected on the demonstrable harm caused by disinformation and misinformation on sites like Facebook, and the role marketing professionals could play in curbing it.
According to the Anti Defamation League, misinformation and disinformation—collectively known as “fake news”—tend to spread very quickly.
“It’s important to differentiate between the two types of bad data currently propagating online,” says Cane. “Misinformation is generally spread without ill intent—the people sharing it might not even know it’s false. Disinformation, on the other hand, is intentionally created to mislead.”
As noted by the ADL, although the intent of each may be different, the end result is often the same.
Misinformation and disinformation both fall under the umbrella of “fake news.” At best, they may create conflict, inflaming tensions and contributing heavily to what some believe to be the inherent toxicity of social media. At worst, they may result in direct harm, either through violence or harmful pseudoscience.
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“Facebook has had issues with misinformation and disinformation for a very long time,” Cane explains. “It took the pandemic to show the true harm that it can cause—harm we’ve seen repeatedly with the election and the war in Ukraine. As marketers, we need to ensure we don’t contribute to the problem. Transparency and integrity have to be non-negotiable.”
“It can be tempting to leverage fake news and the outrage it generates to promote one’s brand,” Cane continues. “I would argue that doing so is akin to playing with fire. More importantly, it runs counter to virtually every tenet of ethical marketing.”
Instead of trying to use fake news as an outlet for promotion, Cane advises brands to think about how they can use their influence to counter it. Marketing professionals may even leverage their professional skills in their downtime to spread knowledge intended to counter disinformation. What’s most important, however, is for brands to clearly state their values—and to remain consistent in them.
“Corporate social responsibility is not simply a buzzword,” Cane concludes. “It is the baseline for doing business in today’s landscape. Brands and marketing professionals alike need to be willing to stand for something, because those that don’t will ultimately be forgotten.”