Matthew Facciani
@matthewfacciani.bsky.social
Social Scientist studying misinformation, media literacy, & AI.
Author of Misguided: https://amzn.to/48zTs59
https://matthewfacciani.substack.com
www.matthewfacciani.com
Author of Misguided: https://amzn.to/48zTs59
https://matthewfacciani.substack.com
www.matthewfacciani.com
Pinned
The First Copy of Misguided Arrived—Here’s What Comes Next
Preorders for my new book are live, events are coming, and I’m booking interviews.
matthewfacciani.substack.com
After five years of work, I finally held a copy of my book Misguided—a surreal moment and long-time dream come true. The book explores the psychology of misinformation and is now available for preorder; I’m also booking podcast interviews and talks to support the launch. #BookSky #Misguided
📊 Class 3 of my online course is now live! This week we tackle scientific literacy—how to read research papers, evaluate expert credentials, and spot the red flags in misleading health headlines.
matthewfacciani.substack.com/p/class-3-ho...
matthewfacciani.substack.com/p/class-3-ho...
Class 3: How to Identify Scientific Red Flags and Spot Misleading Health Headlines
In this class we learn how to evaluate research quality, use Google Scholar to check expertise, and navigate common pitfalls in statistics and research methods.
matthewfacciani.substack.com
January 18, 2026 at 8:47 PM
📊 Class 3 of my online course is now live! This week we tackle scientific literacy—how to read research papers, evaluate expert credentials, and spot the red flags in misleading health headlines.
matthewfacciani.substack.com/p/class-3-ho...
matthewfacciani.substack.com/p/class-3-ho...
RFK Jr. recently expressed concern about radiofrequency electromagnetic fields from cell phones and has removed FDA webpages that explained why cell phone radiation is not harmful. Fortunately, many other sources debunk these claims, including this article!
www.scientificamerican.com/blog/observa...
www.scientificamerican.com/blog/observa...
Don't Fall Prey to Scaremongering about 5G
Activists cite low-quality studies in arguing radio-frequency radiation is dangerous, but the weight of evidence shows no risk
www.scientificamerican.com
January 18, 2026 at 6:42 PM
RFK Jr. recently expressed concern about radiofrequency electromagnetic fields from cell phones and has removed FDA webpages that explained why cell phone radiation is not harmful. Fortunately, many other sources debunk these claims, including this article!
www.scientificamerican.com/blog/observa...
www.scientificamerican.com/blog/observa...
A new analysis found that about 9/10 posts on LinkedIn and Facebook (from late 2024-2025) were AI-generated, and they were often published without any human editing.
journalismresearch.circle.so/c/researcher...
journalismresearch.circle.so/c/researcher...
Most social media posts aren’t really written by people anymore: what does that mean for public c... | Media and Journalism Exchange
A new MJRC analysis, based on 40,000 English-language posts from 2,000 public accounts on LinkedIn and Facebook, points to a profound shift in how public communication is now produced online.
Across ...
journalismresearch.circle.so
January 18, 2026 at 3:46 PM
A new analysis found that about 9/10 posts on LinkedIn and Facebook (from late 2024-2025) were AI-generated, and they were often published without any human editing.
journalismresearch.circle.so/c/researcher...
journalismresearch.circle.so/c/researcher...
You may have seen this video of a woman shooing away two ICE agents with a bat go viral. It's fake, an AI-generated video. Here's how you can tell and how to fact-check similar content:
January 17, 2026 at 4:28 PM
You may have seen this video of a woman shooing away two ICE agents with a bat go viral. It's fake, an AI-generated video. Here's how you can tell and how to fact-check similar content:
Fascinating historical analysis finds that higher local circulation of a popular witch-hunting manual increased a city's likelihood of holding its first witch trial by about 30%. An early, quantifiable example of the harmful impact of fake news!
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Ideational diffusion and the great witch hunt in Central Europe - Theory and Society
The great upsurge of witch trials in early modern Europe remains a historical puzzle. Popularly known as the “witch craze”, this eruption of persecution is puzzling because belief in witchcraft had ex...
link.springer.com
January 16, 2026 at 10:29 PM
Fascinating historical analysis finds that higher local circulation of a popular witch-hunting manual increased a city's likelihood of holding its first witch trial by about 30%. An early, quantifiable example of the harmful impact of fake news!
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
"Truth and falsehood are alike in face, similar in bearing, taste, and movement; we look upon them with the same eye. I find not only that we are lax in defending ourselves against deception, but that we seek and hasten to run ourselves through on it" - 16th Century Philosopher Michel de Montaigne
January 16, 2026 at 10:17 PM
"Truth and falsehood are alike in face, similar in bearing, taste, and movement; we look upon them with the same eye. I find not only that we are lax in defending ourselves against deception, but that we seek and hasten to run ourselves through on it" - 16th Century Philosopher Michel de Montaigne
"The biological mechanism proposed, that mRNA vaccines somehow suppress immune surveillance of cancer, contradicts how these vaccines actually work. They stimulate immune responses rather than suppressing them."
www.cidrap.umn.edu/childhood-va...
www.cidrap.umn.edu/childhood-va...
CIDRAP Op-ed: Vaccine myths that won’t die and how to counter them—part 2
www.cidrap.umn.edu
January 16, 2026 at 8:34 PM
"The biological mechanism proposed, that mRNA vaccines somehow suppress immune surveillance of cancer, contradicts how these vaccines actually work. They stimulate immune responses rather than suppressing them."
www.cidrap.umn.edu/childhood-va...
www.cidrap.umn.edu/childhood-va...
Bluesky now allows you to "Go Live" and share your Twitch stream. Seems like a cool feature! Has anyone used this yet? Does it work well?
January 16, 2026 at 4:43 PM
Bluesky now allows you to "Go Live" and share your Twitch stream. Seems like a cool feature! Has anyone used this yet? Does it work well?
Elon Musk says going to medical school is pointless because in 3-4 years there will be more robotic surgeons than human surgeons. Elon Musk also predicted that he would put a man on Mars 5 years ago.
January 16, 2026 at 4:06 PM
Elon Musk says going to medical school is pointless because in 3-4 years there will be more robotic surgeons than human surgeons. Elon Musk also predicted that he would put a man on Mars 5 years ago.
PSA for authors: Apparently some book clubs will email you claiming interest in featuring your book, then ask you to pay $150 for the 'honor' of speaking virtually to their group.
January 16, 2026 at 3:54 PM
PSA for authors: Apparently some book clubs will email you claiming interest in featuring your book, then ask you to pay $150 for the 'honor' of speaking virtually to their group.
In today's live Q&A for my online course, we covered lateral reading and fact-checking techniques, explored various online resources for improving media and digital literacy, and had an extended discussion about AI's impact on the information landscape.
matthewfacciani.substack.com/p/class-2-li...
matthewfacciani.substack.com/p/class-2-li...
Class 2: Live Q&A About Media & Digital Literacy
We discussed fact-checking, how to boost media literacy, and AI's impact on information.
matthewfacciani.substack.com
January 16, 2026 at 1:00 AM
In today's live Q&A for my online course, we covered lateral reading and fact-checking techniques, explored various online resources for improving media and digital literacy, and had an extended discussion about AI's impact on the information landscape.
matthewfacciani.substack.com/p/class-2-li...
matthewfacciani.substack.com/p/class-2-li...
I gave a few quotes for this article in the Financial Times on how to talk with someone you disagree with!
www.ft.com/content/21c4...
www.ft.com/content/21c4...
January 15, 2026 at 9:12 PM
I gave a few quotes for this article in the Financial Times on how to talk with someone you disagree with!
www.ft.com/content/21c4...
www.ft.com/content/21c4...
"In the largest Medicare Advantage fraud settlement to date, Kaiser Permanente has agreed to pay $556 million to settle Justice Department allegations that it billed the government for medical conditions patients didn’t have."
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
Kaiser Permanente To Pay $556 Million in Record Medicare Advantage Fraud Settlement - KFF Health News
Kaiser Permanente agrees to pay $556 million to settle allegations of billing the government for conditions patients didn’t have.
kffhealthnews.org
January 15, 2026 at 7:05 PM
"In the largest Medicare Advantage fraud settlement to date, Kaiser Permanente has agreed to pay $556 million to settle Justice Department allegations that it billed the government for medical conditions patients didn’t have."
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
“You can’t treat children like this, you can’t treat people like this. We were able to stand up for them. We were able to convince people about the fact that this was unethical.”
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Controversial US study on hepatitis B vaccines in Africa is cancelled
$1.6m project drew outrage over ethical questions about withholding vaccines proven to prevent disease
www.theguardian.com
January 15, 2026 at 4:48 PM
“You can’t treat children like this, you can’t treat people like this. We were able to stand up for them. We were able to convince people about the fact that this was unethical.”
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
"After a tense day of confusion and backroom negotiations, the Trump administration moved Wednesday night to restore roughly $2 billion in federal grant money for mental health and addiction programs nationwide."
www.npr.org/2026/01/15/n...
www.npr.org/2026/01/15/n...
24 hours of chaos as mental health grants are slashed then restored
For 24 hours, it was unclear which mental health and addiction programs would survive and who would still have jobs when the dust settled.
www.npr.org
January 15, 2026 at 4:47 PM
"After a tense day of confusion and backroom negotiations, the Trump administration moved Wednesday night to restore roughly $2 billion in federal grant money for mental health and addiction programs nationwide."
www.npr.org/2026/01/15/n...
www.npr.org/2026/01/15/n...
“As deepfakes proliferate online, Finland adds AI literacy to its school curriculum to help children as young as 3 to recognise AI-generated fake news.”
www.euronews.com/next/2026/01...
www.euronews.com/next/2026/01...
How Finland is teaching schoolchildren AI literacy
As deepfakes proliferate online, Finland adds AI literacy to its school curriculum to help children as young as 3 to recognise AI-generated fake news.
www.euronews.com
January 15, 2026 at 2:47 AM
“As deepfakes proliferate online, Finland adds AI literacy to its school curriculum to help children as young as 3 to recognise AI-generated fake news.”
www.euronews.com/next/2026/01...
www.euronews.com/next/2026/01...
A new Economist/YouGov poll finds that 62% of US adults age 18-29 disapprove of Donald Trump. This represents a significant shift from higher approval ratings among this age group before he took office, contradicting many political pundits' predictions of a political realignment among Gen Z voters.
January 14, 2026 at 5:35 PM
A new Economist/YouGov poll finds that 62% of US adults age 18-29 disapprove of Donald Trump. This represents a significant shift from higher approval ratings among this age group before he took office, contradicting many political pundits' predictions of a political realignment among Gen Z voters.
New study finds that asking people to reflect on the ethics of sharing different news headlines significantly reduced their likelihood of sharing fake news.
psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/202...
psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/202...
APA PsycNet
psycnet.apa.org
January 14, 2026 at 4:02 PM
New study finds that asking people to reflect on the ethics of sharing different news headlines significantly reduced their likelihood of sharing fake news.
psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/202...
psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/202...
“The American Federation of Teachers says it is leaving X, citing the social media site's creation and dissemination of "sickening" images of children in various states of undress.”
www.reuters.com/business/med...
www.reuters.com/business/med...
US teachers union says it is leaving X over sexualized AI images of children
The American Federation of Teachers says it is leaving X, citing the social media site's creation and dissemination of "sickening" images of children in various states of undress.
www.reuters.com
January 14, 2026 at 2:25 AM
“The American Federation of Teachers says it is leaving X, citing the social media site's creation and dissemination of "sickening" images of children in various states of undress.”
www.reuters.com/business/med...
www.reuters.com/business/med...
New poll finds that 28% of US adults believe the force used by the ICE agent in Minneapolis was justified.
January 13, 2026 at 4:11 PM
New poll finds that 28% of US adults believe the force used by the ICE agent in Minneapolis was justified.
People now get health information from many sources online, rely on their own experiences, and expect personalized guidance, so health systems must actively work to build trust rather than assuming people will simply trust them based on their authority.
academic.oup.com/heapro/artic...
academic.oup.com/heapro/artic...
Trust is a verb: how to reimagine confidence in health systems
Trust in health, science, and public institutions has become a central concern in many countries (O’Doherty 2023, 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer 2025, Cologn
academic.oup.com
January 13, 2026 at 3:15 PM
People now get health information from many sources online, rely on their own experiences, and expect personalized guidance, so health systems must actively work to build trust rather than assuming people will simply trust them based on their authority.
academic.oup.com/heapro/artic...
academic.oup.com/heapro/artic...
New poll shows a record high 45% of U.S. adults now identify as political independents.
January 12, 2026 at 9:06 PM
New poll shows a record high 45% of U.S. adults now identify as political independents.
Lesson 2 of my online course is now available! Learn to fact-check like a pro, identify manipulation techniques, and master critical ignoring skills.
matthewfacciani.substack.com/p/class-2-ho...
matthewfacciani.substack.com/p/class-2-ho...
Class 2: How to Fact-Check and Practice Critical Ignoring in the Age of AI
Media literacy is the second pillar of literacy, and here we learn how to read laterally, identify digital manipulation, and strategically ignore bad-faith actors.
matthewfacciani.substack.com
January 11, 2026 at 8:12 PM
Lesson 2 of my online course is now available! Learn to fact-check like a pro, identify manipulation techniques, and master critical ignoring skills.
matthewfacciani.substack.com/p/class-2-ho...
matthewfacciani.substack.com/p/class-2-ho...
Social and "soft" skills are critical for employment and higher wages, even among technology jobs.
January 11, 2026 at 6:05 PM
Social and "soft" skills are critical for employment and higher wages, even among technology jobs.
"After the White House called for billions of dollars in funding reductions, senators and representatives are rescinding the proposed cuts and even boosting funds for basic research."
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/s...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/s...
Congress Is Reversing Trump’s Steep Budget Cuts to Science
www.nytimes.com
January 11, 2026 at 5:22 PM
"After the White House called for billions of dollars in funding reductions, senators and representatives are rescinding the proposed cuts and even boosting funds for basic research."
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/s...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/s...