Misinformation isn't just about falsehoods. It's about powerful narratives, emotional connections, filled-in gaps.
If certain misleading narratives are gaining ground, it's not always because they're more convincing, but because they know where to insert themselves: in the silences left by institutions/organizations, in the voids of meaning, in the places where the official word no longer reaches down to the individual, to the human. So it's not just a question of correcting mistakes, but of rebuilding the quality of the narrative link.
When legitimate speech no longer speaks to anyone
Official narratives often appeal to reason, conformity and proof. They are rooted in a logic of control, conformity and neutrality. Human beings don't just live in facts. They live in stories.
He's looking for meaning, recognition and a narrative framework that suits him. When we speak to him in figures, injunctions or dry denials, he's not necessarily receptive, because we're not speaking to the right place. Into this void, some deceptive narratives rush... with warmth, clarity and coherence (even if fake).
"What will hurt you the most is not recognizing how your audience feels about what you're telling them."
Why misleading stories resonate
They speak to the stomach, to the heart, to fear. They offer a simple explanation for what is perceived as complex. They validate wounds, frustrations, unnamed (unjustified) intuitions. They know how to use the right words, not because they're true, but because they resonate.
They don't always try to manipulate. Sometimes they simply respond where others haven't bothered to listen.
"The fake can do more good than the real, if it gives a sense of connection and clarity."
What legitimate stories have to learn
- Listening to needs, not just mistakes
Behind the positive reception of a misleading or biased story, there is often an unfulfilled expectation, an unacknowledged wound. Responding to this means restoring trust.
- Talking with, not for, the "other".
Words have to come down, become incarnate, adjust. It's not a question of explaining or thinking that "people don't understand": it's a question of reaching out to the other person. It's about finding the fulcrum that will make the dialogue flow.
- Show what we do, and why we do it
Too many actions are right, but invisible. An organization must embody its mission, making it legible, regular, understandable and emotionally accessible.
- Building a readable, aligned and embodied voice
There's no need to overdo it. However, what is said must correspond to what is done and who you are. What is done must be made visible (illustrated). What is not done must be assumed.
Further information
Truth doesn't win. Nor is it the lie. It's the story that connects, that soothes, that enlightens, even without certainty.
In a world saturated with content, images and conflicting opinions, the only word that sticks... is the one that listens, aligns itself, and makes visible what we no longer perceive.