Share your Ideas here. Be as descriptive as possible. Ask for feedback. If you find any interesting Idea, you can comment and encourage the person in taking it forward.
Problem Statement:
Misinformation spreads rapidly through social media, forwarded messages and the internet.
Unknowingly, people read and share such content without verifying it, which leads to confusion, panic or spreading of false rhetorics.
Highlight gaps in the current solutions/market:
- Limited reach in messaging apps
- Lack of accessibility and ease of use
Solution:
A browser extension for young adults seamlessly integrated with a whatsapp chatbot, primarily aimed for the older generation, which flags content as verified, partially verified, false, unverified.
Key Features:
- For the browser extension: As users browse posts, tweets, and news articles, the extension checks the content on your screen against trusted fact-checking databases and government run portals.
- For the whatsapp chatbot: All the user has to do is forward the messages or links to the bot. The bot then scans this content and gives its verdict.
- Gives a credibility score to each article, post, message etc. ,so other users are also benefited.
- Instantly provides the user with the option to flag and report the message which battles misinformation.
Beneficiaries:
- General Public/Social media users: Reduces the risk of sharing fake news online drastically.
- Whatsapp users: This helps protect friends, family and your local community from false information.
Impact:
- It reduces the spread of misinformation.
- Also, educates users on how to properly evaluate credibility of sources.
- It contributes to the long term goal of responsible sharing and building a culture of critical thinking.
Why this matters to me:
In today’s world, information is currency. A lot of us spend a lot of time online on social media or texting. Everyday, I see people around me and even myself occasionally share information without knowing if it’s completely true. FactMate is important to me because it helps us in making informed decisions and avoid falling for such false claims. It’s a way to protect truth and promote critical thinking in the information we consume and share daily.
