communicating in an era of self-validating facts - design & content … · communicating in an...

COMMUNICATING IN AN ERA OF SELF-VALIDATING FACTS

Margot Bloomstein

@mbloomstein

#DCC17

Design & Content Conference, July 18, 2017

Is the media our magic mirror?

©Cayuga Productions and CBS

Is this an accurate reflection?

Internal truths trump external data.


3 | #DCC17 | @mbloomstein


If this is the post-fact era,

when was the fact era?


(cc) Holiday Extras / Flickr


Facts—or feelings?


Safe,


Safe, smart


Safe, smart, informed


Safe, smart, informed, secure


Safe, smart, informed, secure, trusting…

Rudy Giuliani, August 15, 2016, Youngstown Ohio Trump Foreign Policy Speech


Rudy Giuliani, August 15, 2016, Youngstown Ohio Trump Foreign Policy Speech

Inaccurate, but not inconsistent.


So what happens if you’re

not constrained by facts?

©Scott Olson Getty Images; from Fox Business with Neil Cavuto interview

©Scott Olson Getty Images

©Scott Olson Getty Images; excerpt from August 15, 2016 foreign policy speech


©Scott Olson Getty Images; I’m paraphrasing, but c’mon.

All these things are true

even if they didn’t happen.


©Justin Lane European Pressphoto Agency; excerpted from https://nytimes.com/2017/01/30/technology/donald-trump-social-networks-protests.html


Do lies matter? Or do we twist reality to

convene with our version of the truth?



Consistency is an internal metric.


25 | #DCC17 | @mbloomstein 25 | #DCC17 | @mbloomstein

Does this information align

with my viewpoint?


Do I feel good about

this brand?


Does this brand make me

feel good about myself?


History isn’t memory,

accuracy isn’t consistency


History isn’t memory,

accuracy isn’t consistency,

and inconsistency didn’t cause

Trump to lose MORE.

©Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images; Fox News Sunday

©Politico

We see what we want to see


Trust emerges not from honesty, but

from consistency—with how we believe


Validation Deliberation


Courage in our convictions

Empirical proof


“Feels right” is accurate >


Does our inner confirmation bias trump

outward faith in the old arbiters of truth?


Insert gut check cycle image Can we blame the Right Wing Media?

©Fox News

Insert gut check cycle image Coached skepticism? False equivalency?

©Fox News

Insert gut check cycle image

©CBS


©National Enquirer


©Mary Ann Chastain, Associated Press


Media may not hold people accountable,

but they can hold us accountable to our

own beliefs, values, and identities.


©Jana Birchum for The Austin Chronicle; from March 12, 2017 panel Good Night and Good Luck: Media in Election Years at SXSW


How can you shift beliefs

when feelings trump facts?



How we form our beliefs matters more

than what we believe





Cultural predisposition





Cultural predisposition confirmation bias



Not “constrained” by facts…

Prefer feelings to fact…


LIONIZE THE TRUTH


Earn attention through novelty

Trojan horse on feels-right opposition

Fit new ideas to old values for relevance


Invest in original content



Pair with analysis of outside research



Host opposing viewpoints



ADD OUTSIDE YOUR BUBBLE


COOK’S ILLUSTRATED EXAMPLE


Example on value of insurance

comparison tools re: 20.1MM/26.7 UK

households


CASE IN POINT OF COMPARISON =

TRUST: GOOGLE


Invite insight, don’t just present logic



Give the opposition a seat at the table to

create new perspectives that appeal

not to what we know but what we value.

© YouTube


Give the opposition a seat at the table to

create new perspectives that appeal

not to our minds but to our hearts.

© YouTube


All these things are true

even if they didn’t happen.


Margot Bloomstein

@mbloomstein

[email protected]

http://amzn.to/CSatWork

http://cards.appropriateinc.com

THANK YOU

communicating in an era of self-validating facts - design & content … · communicating in an...

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