With the election of 2024 just weeks away, 'It’s (Probably) Not Rocket Science' (IPNRS) brings awareness about the internet and election misinformation as voters head to the polls.

In the latest episode titled “How the Internet Impacts Politics and the Election,” IPNRS podcast host Carly Bowling is joined by Alexa Skonieski, a university communications representative at The University of New Mexico (UNM). Previously, Skonieski was a news reporter for KRQE News 13 in Albuquerque.

Over the summer, the UNM Communication and Marketing (UCAM) department released its nonpartisan website, “Election Experts,” featuring interviews with UNM faculty on important election topics and issues. Topics such as immigration, the economy, climate, media, and more are discussed in depth with UNM faculty experts.

This podcast episode focuses on the interview conducted with Jessica Feezell, an associate professor of political science with decades of experience in American politics, political communication, political behavior, and public opinion under her belt.

With technology evolving at a faster pace, almost as fast as the speed of light, during crucial times like the election, voters must be aware of the misinformation spread throughout the internet.

“It's really challenging to be discerning of information, especially online with the technology available to create very easily misleading misinformation,” said Feezell. “However, there are some things that we can do as consumers to be on guard. The first thing I recommend is that you try to read laterally and read across a variety of sources.”

Fact-checking is one of those things Feezell recommends. We’ve seen it daily, especially during election season and time of world and national conflict we see pictures, videos, and posts that are not factual. Often AI-generated. It is up to the viewer, the reader, to fact-check; but like professor Feezell stated, we are not the best fact-checkers as we often believe the things that aligned with our viewpoints.

“The truth is that we're not the best at fact-checking information,” said Feezell. “We tend to believe the things that are consistent with our pre-existing viewpoints. We tend to trust information that feels good.”

Another interesting topic discussed is the way others perceive us on social media. This could have an impact on how other people claim our political views are. If we dress a certain way, buy a specific type of vehicle; it can portray that we lean to a particular side of the political aisle. Feezell calls this affective polarization. Feezell talks about a book she uses in one of her classes, “Frenemies” by Jamie Settle, when talking about this.

“One of the arguments that she makes is that social media enables this sort of engagement with politics that mixes news with our personal relationships and totally non-political information,” said Feezell. “And what we effectively do when we scroll through something like Facebook or something like Instagram is classify people. Because we have not only some knowledge of who they are personally, but we also see pictures of them in a boat or at a particular concert.”

So, with early voting underway and election day just days away, it is important as voters and consumers that we do not take everything we see at face value. Fact-check, by reading across different sources as Feezell stated, watching a local or national news source you trust. Crossing your T’s and dotting your I’s sort of say.

Listen to It’s (Probably) Not Rocket Science to learn more about this discussion. The podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or anywhere else you get your podcasts. Also, be sure to check out UNM’s Election Experts website.

Learn more about the show on podcast.unm.edu and follow on Instagram and ⁠TikTok.