Dr. Polleri is stressing the importance of further developing an anthropological approach to misinformation studies. He argues that misinformation studies should outgrow their dichotomy between truth and falsity to instead explore misinformation as signals that reveal a range of narratives and experiences within specific issues. These can include the causes of mistrust in experts’ organizations, the frustrations of specific communities in post-crisis situations, or the formation of new modes of public participation in the digital sphere. Drawing on different case studies, such as COVID-19, social media polarization, or geopolitical tensions, Dr. Polleri argues for three ways of anthropologically studying misinformation: 1) analyzing misinformation within its context of production, rather than as isolated pieces of information; 2) analyzing misinformation as a signal of trust toward the Other; 3) analyzing the unique characteristics of the network that allows misinformation to proliferate in digital social media. By theorizing misinformation beyond the duality of truth and falsity and by highlighting methodological ways to pragmatically research misinformation, anthropology can further education on the many forms that misinformation embodies in the 21st century.
