Games Institute PhD student and Research Communications Writer Sid Heeg (Environment) delivered a guest talk to the UW Staff Association about COVID-19 misinformation on May 12th, 2022.
Heeg’s talk Malicious Messaging: How Misinformation Operates Online covered how misinformation forms, how it differs from disinformation and how it appears online using examples from real COVID-19 misinformation that has been spread on social media.
They argued that the “COVID-19 Pandemic has made it clear that we are living in a time of rapid misinformation and distrust in public and government institutions.
The above photo features GI staff tuning in to watch Heeg’s talk virtually during their lunch break.
Heeg explained that while “disinformation is deliberate” misinformation is incorrect information that is passed on regardless of intent.
This talk is part of Heeg’s PhD research about the “effects of misinformation specifically within farming communities.”
They concluded that “the fight of misinformation will always be happening so long as there is miscommunication.”