Bakersfield College Librarian Faith Bradham held a workshop to help students be weary of conspiracy theories on social media on Nov. 1 which was available to students both in person and through Zoom.

Bradham explained the different markers of conspiracy theories we should look out for, such as missing evidence and if there are set scapegoats in the post you are reading.

Bradham also explained how social media amplifies conspiracy theories. She said that each of us has our own algorithms determined by the things we watch, like, and share. This creates, what Bradham calls, a filter bubble—algorithms feed you what you want and agree with. This then leads us to have a confirmation bias.

She also threw light on what we should watch out for on social media, such as who is the source of the post, what is the tone, and who are their sources.

Bradham ended the workshop with an activity for students to try. She split attendees into two groups and gave them a link to Padlet. Each group was to find either resources or find tone from a post of their choice from various social media platforms.