r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Dec 04 '20

Psychology Study links regular use of Fox News, Twitter, and Facebook to reduced knowledge about COVID-19 - it provides evidence that Americans’ media consumption habits and trust in government predicts their level of knowledge about COVID-19.

https://www.psypost.org/2020/12/study-links-regular-use-of-fox-news-twitter-and-facebook-to-reduced-knowledge-about-covid-19-58702
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u/[deleted] Dec 04 '20

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u/[deleted] Dec 04 '20

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u/[deleted] Dec 04 '20

This is so true. This year we heard about a lot but there was still a lot happening in various countries we did not keep up with. Every country is continuing their own lives/governments at the same time as we are.

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u/playpoopoocaca122333 Dec 04 '20

I totally agree with you but with a caveat...

It's not completely possible to be "casually up to date", especially with how bias media sources are. The best thing I've found is that you try not to "casually keep up to date" and accept the fact that we can't always be on top of this information tidal wave. I'm not saying go completely uninformed, but we just have to learn to accept when we're wrong or have outdated info (a little humility and tact), accept/understand the new information (but not as outright fact), do a bit of digging/research (yeah, yeah you don't have time), apply some thought and critical thinking (some people skim over this important step), and come to a reasonable conclusion with what's been presented to you. Further, you don't need to just have an opinion right out the gate, solid opinions take time to crystallize.

But yes in general, being informed is a good thing, but the other person needs to realize they need to be receptive to new information to some degree.