Event box
Facts vs Feelings: Identifying Design Tricks and Misinformation Online Online
This workshop defines what is meant by online ‘misinformation’ and ‘disinformation’ and explores the slippery and complex world of media and information. We will start by diving into persuasive design: design tricks on websites, apps, and in advertisements that persuade visitors to click, share, and buy. By becoming aware of physical and emotional responses to stressful stimuli and the persuasive designs of tech which are rooted in basic psychology, participants will learn ways to keep calm and spot the design tricks. Participants will take away fundamental investigation skills to help them to verify information and become more information savvy in a 24-hour news cycle peppered with “fake news.”
Participants will leave with:
* An understanding of the terms “misinformation” and “disinformation”
* How media design techniques seek to provoke physical and psychological responses
* Apply digital research techniques to check the facts and stop the spread of harmful information online
* Calming and mindfulness techniques to deal with stress from media intake
Date and time: Friday, January 30, 12 - 1:30 pm ET
Location: Online via Zoom (registrants will receive a link via email)
Instructors: Carey Toane, Entrepreneurship Librarian, carey.toane@utoronto.ca; Elena Springall, Liaison and Education Librarian, elena.springall@utoronto.ca, Gerstein Science Information Centre
This workshop is part of the U of T Libraries Data Detox Week, happening January 26-30, 2026. It uses material created for the Data Detox Kit by Tactical Tech, an international NGO that engages with citizens and civil-society organizations to explore and mitigate the impacts of technology on society.
- Date:
- Friday, January 30, 2026
- Time:
- 12:00pm - 1:30pm
- Time Zone:
- Eastern Time - US & Canada (change)
- Campus:
- St. George (Downtown) Campus
- Online:
- This is an online event. Event URL will be sent via registration email.
- Audience:
- Faculty Graduate Students Staff Undergraduate Students
- Categories:
- Data & Statistics Digital Tools Health & Wellness
