“America is experiencing ‘truth decay’ at an alarming rate, experts warn.”

Josh Introne, assistant professor in the School of Information Studies, was interviewed by Yahoo News for the story “America is experiencing ‘truth decay’ at an alarming rate, experts warn.” “Truth decay” is characterized by the “diminishing role of facts and analysis in American public life,” much of which can be attributed to the rise in misinformation on social media over the past few years. Introne, who studies collective intelligence, uses QAnon, a conspiracy theory group on social media, to exemplify this collective loss in the importance of facts. Introne says these types of conspiracy groups have made it “normative to not trust that people are credible anymore” and give people “something that allows them to make their own reality and feel powerful once again.”