Australian Passive Solar Home

One of the huge issues with social media is not what many people suggest – disagreement, argument or vitriol. At least they’re all instantly recognisable. No, what I think is much more insidious is the spreading of misinformation by closed groups, e.g. on Facebook. Here’s why.

There are many groups on Facebook – and no doubt other social media – that purport to give unbiased advice on energy-efficient housing. Over the last few years I’ve joined a number of such closed groups, only to find that the advice being given was patently biased. Now to a degree that’s OK, as long as that biased advice can be publicly challenged. But what I have found is that rather than have a debate, the group owners simple delete any comments that question their prevailing wisdom and then ban the poster.

So what we end up with are groups – sometimes quite large in membership – that all sing from the same biased song sheet. Those wanting to learn more about the subject join the group, find complete agreement on what works best, and then head off, happy they have had good advice. But instead of that, they have simply been listening to a social media echo chamber, often it seems to me to be underpinned by hidden commercial interests.

Watching what people write, I think many group members believe the group is unbiased – after all, there’s never any debate about the ‘facts’, is there? The circularity of this sounds initially bizarre, but is a completely understandable part of human nature – many people (not me, obviously!) feel most comfortable nodding in agreement with others.

Basically, in Australia, if you want unbiased advice on the best approaches to energy efficient housing, read the guidance that the state and federal governments produce. It’s lightyears ahead of social media groups.