The Distinction between Fake Experts and the Truth Fake experts and failed expertise have become fully entrenched in our social landscape – and we have not yet developed methods to regulate this flood of disingenuous information in a reliable way. By Michael J. Padilla
I It is truly incredible as Social media has been the “big game changer” in the loss of context to evaluate the trustworthiness. In the world of fake news and disinformation, everyone is a self-proclaimed expert. Popularity and self -promotion have replaced knowledge and experience as indicators of expertise. I am seeing and reading things and this so called Fake experts really lack, what I would look for as a experts, things like Competence, integrity/honesty, credibility and track record are all important but so too is benevolence which is when someone is disposed to act in the interests of others and show good will towards 38 I Inversk Magazine I OCTOBER 2020
people. But as we can see people peddle their personal opinions as expert advice in all areas, from foreign policy and finance to sports, beauty, and entertainment. Let us all face it, social media has made the fake news and disinformation problem significantly worse. Sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, Y ouTube, Instagram, and Twitter are great at making voices heard – but lack a filter for distinguishing fact from fiction, and opinion from expert advice. “Social influencers,” in the form of security and risk experts , lifestyle coaches, daily vloggers, and beauty, fashion, and travel bloggers, amongst others, tell followers what to eat and wear, how to exercise and apply makeup, where to go and stay, and more generally, how to live a certain lifestyle. And their advice is largely accepted, due to high follower counts, the enviable lives they portray, and, often, sheer good looks. The vast majority lack
formal education, training or comprehensive knowledge in their fields of expertise, Travel Risk Management companies for example live in the UK or Italy but rarely have a true understating of places like Egypt, Kenya, DRC, nor do they actually working and understand the cultural issues in those countries – we just let them decide for us what services or solution or travel advise to take, but rarely are the honest with the customer, who is actually taking care of them on the ground, or how to even contact them. The list goes on. Many of these people became “Instafamous” overnight, without reason and without qualification, but we listen to their advice like it’s divinely inspired. They are neither journalists nor researchers; their posts are not the product of detailed investigative work, but we trust them like it is – and that’s a huge mistake. Online “experts” aren’t giving us advice – they are making sales pitches. Their platforms are a source for income, where they make millions by selling us things that they got for free. The irony is, the more we take their “advice,” the more money they earn, free meals they get to eat, and complimentary hotels they are offered. Did you buy that protein shake your favourite fitness personality claimed was life changing? That’s money in his pocket. Did you follow the world traveller with hundreds of scenic posts, probably uploaded straight from Google Images? She is using your follow to convince airlines and hotels to let her travel for free. And when you book the same hotel or use the traveller’s insurance she did? She’ll get 5% back from both your purchases. Not every product or place these influencers endorse is “the best ever.” Y et thousands are still buying. And so now let also look at traditional brand of “experts” – academics, journalists, former politicians, and retired military officials. We assume these individuals have something special to offer, given their popularity, experiences and credentials. Some of these traditional experts do have real experience and knowledge, however, their advice is often accepted as though it is both unbiased and without error, which is a huge problem. We also believe, incorrectly, that these individuals are our best and brightest, when the truth is, they are just well connected. Much of their stature simply comes from the access they have attained. Take, for example, the revolving door of political appointees, lobbyists, consultants, and strategists. Federal employees are re-shuffled into private sector positions at various institutions with each partisan shift of the government. These positions simply provide
