I have been sitting with this for a few days because I caught myself almost slipping. I saw a video that was polished, emotionally satisfying, and perfectly aligned with what I already believe. And for a moment longer than I am comfortable admitting, I did not rush to check it, not because it felt wrong, but because it felt right. When I did stop and look more closely, it unraveled quickly. It was not factual nor real. It was AI-generated. What stayed with me was not that I was fooled, that happens to many, but that I almost did not want to check.
Around the same time, I was looking at a political meme. It did not scream fake and that was the problem. It was not exaggerated or over the top. It looked reasonable, measured and plausible. And when I slowed down and actually examined it, the pattern was familiar. Some parts were true, some were half true, some were misleading, and one piece was simply false. The conclusion itself was opinion, presented as fact. It was easy to believe precisely because it was not extreme.
I have been aware of this for a long time. Nearly fifty years ago, I read Subliminal Seduction, a book about advertising and influence, and it made clear how easily we can be guided without realizing it. What has changed since then is scale, speed, and reach. Modern misinformation works if it does not shout. It quietly borrows credibility from partial truths and waits for us to fill in the rest.
It also helps to name something that often gets blurred together. Misinformation is false or misleading information shared without intent to deceive. Someone passes it along because they believe it is true. Disinformation is different. It is false or manipulated information shared deliberately, to influence, provoke, or polarize. Most people are not acting in bad faith. But some systems and campaigns absolutely are. And social media does not care which is which. It rewards reach, speed, and reaction.
This matters even more right now because I know what is coming. Over the next few weeks, you are going to see me focus three ways. The Alberta Prosperity Party’s separatist petition launches on January 2. You will also see me to continue to focus on American politics, because what happens there does not stay there. Congress and the U.S. Senate return on January 5. Our House of Commons does not return until January 26 and I will be watching closely.
Just last night, I watched a conversation unfold about the Alberta referendum where people were confidently claiming that only those born in Alberta should be allowed to vote, often citing Quebec as precedent. That simply is not true. In Canada, provincial and federal voting eligibility is governed by election law. You must be a Canadian citizen, be 18 years of age or older, and be a resident of the jurisdiction where you are voting. Being born in a province has never been a requirement. Yet the claim spread easily because it sounded plausible and fit a narrative some people wanted to believe.
As I look toward 2026, one of the greatest challenges outside of the extremist people leading these dynamics is how social media will be the primary battleground. Not long policy documents or traditional advertising, but short, repeatable, emotionally charged content designed to move faster than facts can keep up. I know this has already happened. I know it is happening now. And I know it will accelerate.
This is part of why I am paying such close attention. There is documented American money and influence behind the Alberta Prosperity Party. And if you are somewhere else in Canada know that this is just the beginning. This is not just organic disagreement or neighbour to neighbour debate. It means tactics refined elsewhere are being imported here. These include emotional framing, repetition, aggressive meme culture and coordinated amplification, often referred to as bot farms. These are networks of automated or semi automated accounts designed to flood feeds until messages feel familiar, urgent, and inevitable.
Add to that the rapid improvement in AI generated images and video, which has accelerated noticeably even in the past year, and it becomes genuinely difficult to tell what is real unless you slow down and look closely. None of this means everything you will see is fake. But much of it will be designed to bypass critical thinking rather than engage it. One clarification matters here. Not everything misleading is AI generated, and not everything that involves AI is misleading. AI is now an integral part of legitimate, authentic businesses and daily work. What deserves scrutiny is how content is manipulated, amplified, and pushed at scale.
I write opinion pieces. But I try very hard to ground my opinions in verifiable facts. Not everyone does. Some people are careless, some are chasing attention and some are actively trying to provoke and polarize. But even the best content creators can be fooled.
The uncomfortable truth is that if something confirms what we already believe, we are less likely to question it, less likely to check the source, and far more likely to share it quickly. That is not a left problem or a right problem. It is a human one. I include myself in that deliberately, because credibility is not about never being wrong. It is about being willing to pause, check, and correct.
So here is the lens I want you to use, the same one I am forcing myself to use. If something feels too perfect, pause. If it aligns flawlessly with your worldview without friction, pause. If it is just a meme with no sourcing, pause. Ask who is saying it, what is missing, and whether you believe it because it is true or because it agrees with you.
This may not be the most emotional post I write, but it may be one of the most important. Democracy does not erode only when people lie. It erodes when truth becomes optional and close enough starts to feel good enough. The most effective misinformation does not ask you to believe something false. It asks you to stop asking questions.
The holidays are over. The volume is about to go up. I am not willing to outsource my thinking, not to algorithms, not to memes, and not to my own desire to be right.
Nancy's Notes 