I do use social media, particularly Youtube and Facebook. This year I have noticed a somewhat disturbing trends. Some users are posting things that seem deliberately misleading, so that a lot of people feel that they have to correct them. This means that there are many comments under the posts, driving them up the algorithm.

One example that for some reason I was frequently shown is the hype about an all-electric Giga train launched by Tesla in Germany. Social media knows that I like trains, so I’m being shown something on this topic. So far not surprising. But as someone who knows something about trains, I also know that the overall message is incorrect. Electric trains have been used for over 125 years, and battery-electric trains for about 100 years (a battery railcar once connected Christchurch and Little River). Combining overhead electric wires and battery power is newer, but has become fairly common in the last ten years. The train shown in the picture is actually built by Siemens, not Tesla, and is a model that is common throughout Europe. The only thing that is new is that Tesla is contributing to the cost of running the service, which also serves the Tesla factory in Germany and has decided to give it the name “Giga”.  There is no other world-first. Overall, it is just a bit of clever marketing. Of course, there are lots of comments under these posts pointing out the misleading statements.

I’ve seen similar posts that show pictures of New Zealand getting the geography all mixed up. Many comments will point out that the Catlins are not the same as Banks Peninsula, and that Mt Aspiring is not in Arthur’s Pass National Park. It seems that these posts are not just sloppy, but intended to provoke comments. Nevertheless, through that they increase the false information out there. How can we trust anyone when false information is given to provoke responses?

It is counter-productive to correct this false information, because a response is exactly what they want. So how do we know what is true? How do we through our clicks, but also our conversations support what is true? At times not supporting falsehood requires restraint—restraint not to click on exciting headlines, not to correct, not to show our own superior knowledge. In an increasingly complex world we require wisdom to seek and encourage truth.