EMEA Summit: Experts cautioned against using Technology Tools to spread Disinformation
Communication professionals have been urged to be wary of technology-driven tools spread disinformation that can cause uncertainty in the world.
This was made at different speeches delivered by experts in communication at PRovokeEMEA Summit, held in Frankfurt, Germany.
They argued that the accelerated disruption of technology in the past five years has elevated the role of corporate communicators inside corporations.
PRovoke Media founder, Homes, noted that the pace of change has never been faster than it is today” in reference to the technological and social changes affecting business, society, the media, and, obviously, the communications industry.
On her part, Shayoni Lynn, founder and CEO of Lynn, a PR agency, told the Summit that disinformation as an industry is very organized, monetized, and sophisticated in its ability to create content that resonates and its understanding of human vulnerability.
During the summit, Sybille Dinzer, planning director at Edelman in Germany, made one of the most critical remarks: “Transformation is a human challenge, since you need to take people along with you on this journey.” You can’t force change on people and do it against their will.
“This statement was well received by many because it seems obvious that, in many respects, technology and social change have forced people to adapt to them. To a large part of the population, that is certainly how it feels.
They however encouraged communicators to balance their enthusiasm for disruption with a sense of empathy for those who feel life is out of control in their worlds, the worlds they grew up in and the worlds they knew for decades.
Communicators are qualified to handle change management work in organizations in a way that leaves everyone feeling as if they are on a journey together. In order to handle transformative technologies, social transformation, and complex change, PR professionals need to apply their knowledge to bigger issues and a wider range of situations.
