How Startups (and You) Can Combat Misinformation
A 2018 MIT Sloan Business School study found that falsehoods are 70% more likely than truthful posts to be shared on Twitter and reach people six times faster. The Covid-19 pandemic has only exacerbated the problem. According to the 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer, the pandemic is creating a “global infodemic,” driving trust in traditional media to record lows. (A measly 53% of respondents said they trusted traditional media outlets). This lack of trust in media, combined with social media’s propensity to give oxygen to misinformation as if it were a wildfire, is creating a volatile media landscape wherein lies can crater stock prices, mislead voters, and drive wedges between friends and family members.
(Quick aside: when I use the term “misinformation,” I’m referring to something that is patently false — not a viewpoint that you disagree with. This is an important distinction that most media consumers (and some startup executives) tend to forget. Far too many people think misinformation is anything that makes them feel uncomfortable, is critical of them, or forces them to think about things in a different way. That is not misinformation — and not the point of this blog. This blog is focused on how startups should address objectively false claims that could have a negative impact on their ability to operate and conduct business.)
The media landscape that startups face today is more complex and harder to control than ever before because the gatekeepers are gone. Everyone is a publisher.
So how can a startup combat misinformation when it is only one voice in a sea of millions? Here are seven places to start:
- Be the authoritative voice. When public discourse turns into a game of “he said, she said,” people turn to their tribe or sources of news that reinforce their existing views. Brands need to focus on building credibility and trust in order to be an authoritative voice that consumers defer to. This is something that can take years to develop and seconds to lose if brands are dishonest. Just look at Southwest Airlines. After decades of brand-building to become known for its commitment to customers and low fares, the company wiped that out in a weekend. How did it do this? First, it failed to publicly acknowledge staffing issues caused by its employee vaccine mandate, which forced the airline to cancel more than 2,000 flights over a single week. Rather than admitting to the real cause of the cancellations, the airline blamed air traffic controllers and weather in the southeast. Over the four-day Columbus Day weekend, Southwest lost $75 million in revenue. Then, after facing pressure from employees, travelers, and the general public, Southwest reversed course and said they would no longer place unvaccinated employees on leave. But this only lessened their credibility. At the end of the ordeal, they had managed to alienate customers on both sides of the political aisle. At this point, angry customers, pilots, and labor unions have become more trusted voices in this story. It’s going to take Southwest years to rebuild trust with consumers.
- Leverage paid content. The only way to compete with the virality of misinformation is to get more eyeballs on accurate information. This means startups should consider proactively promoting content to increase their reach. Shockingly, and perhaps unfortunately, most Americans struggle to tell the difference between actual articles and native content (ads that are made to look like editorial content). Content marketing provider Contently conducted a study where they showed six different native ads in different publications to 509 readers. The overwhelming majority of participants incorrectly identified four of the six ads as news stories (see results below). In fact, more than 80% of respondents thought a piece of branded content in The Wall Street Journal was an actual news story. These findings show just how impactful paid content can be in shaping people’s perspectives about an issue. Take advantage of sponsored content with top-tier media so your voice cuts through the noise.
- Develop owned channels. This is PR 101, so I won’t spend too much time on it. These days, everyone’s a publisher. It’s true that most brands don’t have the same reach as The New York Times or CNN. But it’s important to use websites and social media channels to cultivate your audiences and turn them into raving fans. This is a longer-term project, but it needs to be prioritized so that you can leverage these channels to combat false narratives when the need arises. It is an effective insurance policy for when misinformation spreads.
- Maximize influential third-party voices. To stem the tide of misinformation, startups should leverage influencers to amplify factual claims. Your influencers don’t need to have millions of followers; they just need to be trusted by your core audiences. Earlier this year, the White House engaged more than 50 Twitch streamers, YouTubers, and TikTokers to encourage young people to get vaccinated. Turning to influencers is increasingly common, because young consumers trust them more than media, business, or government officials. According to an Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report, 63% of 18-to-34-year-olds trusted “what influencers say about brands much more than what brands say about themselves.” This is why startups need to cultivate relationships with influencers — even if just to create third-party validators.
- Find the source of misinformation. Most misinformation (especially targeted claims against a brand) stems from a few sources (e.g. angry customers, disgruntled employees, activist shareholders). Only 12 people are responsible for 65% of anti-vaccine misinformation on social media. Most social media users are not hatching diabolical schemes to lie and slander businesses; they’re just retweeting content. This is why it is critical to focus on those few key sources of misinformation. Startups can prepare for this game of whack-a-mole by keeping their finger on the pulse of their customers and engaging on social media to spot potentially harmful information before it spreads.
- Remember the “Streisand Effect.” Silencing opposing viewpoints almost always backfires. This is referred to as the “Streisand Effect” — a phenomenon wherein attempting to suppress something actually brings more attention to it. The phenomenon gets its name from American singer and actress Barbara Streisand, who attempted to have photos of her oceanfront Malibu home removed from the California Coastal Records Project in 2003. The research project was merely trying to document coastal erosion by taking 12,000 images of the California coastline. By trying to hide the photos, Streisand inadvertently drew greater attention to them. Before she filed her lawsuit, the photo of her home had only been downloaded six times (two of which were by Streisand’s attorneys). After months of litigation and media attention, more than 420,000 people had visited the site to view the pictures. Unless the misinformation is libelous or slanderous (see next bullet), don’t try to suppress it.
- Use legal means when needed. As mentioned, whenever a brand tries to silence critics, it almost always hurts the brand. However, brands should consider legal action when someone commits libel or slander and defames the company. Libel and slander — both forms of misinformation — do not contribute to a healthy marketplace of ideas, and those who engage in these acts should be held accountable. Taking legal action can deter future bad actors from making similar false claims. Bottom line: don’t let people make things up.
While it is easy for us to blame Twitter and Facebook for the decay of American discourse, at the end of the day it falls on all of us to be media literate. Yes, social media companies and cable news outlets benefit greatly from pumping their viewers full of fear and promoting content that makes their viewers want more, but it is up to us to have healthy media diets. Consuming nothing but junk food will wreak havoc on our physical health. Similarly, consuming junk media will harm our ability to discern fact from reality. In a perfect world, everyone would take an honest inventory of how diverse their media diet was, and think more critically about the information they’re digesting every day.
Until that happens, startup founders should stick to these tactics to insulate their brands from the pitfalls of misinformation.
Prime Movers Lab invests in breakthrough scientific startups founded by Prime Movers, the inventors who transform billions of lives. We invest in companies reinventing energy, transportation, infrastructure, manufacturing, human augmentation, and agriculture.
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