Issues of ‘‘group think’’ could be seen as a problem in this situation along with confirmation
bias, which can affect individuals as well as groups (Jonas et al., 2001). Confirmation bias
happens when a person or group dogmatically allows unconfirmed information they have to
influence new information as it becomes available. This can negatively affect the information
they synthesize, create, and disseminate. Confirmation bias can be tempered in groups
through the simple expedient of dissent (Schulz-Hardt et al., 2002; Schulz-Hardt and
Moscovici, 2000). If the group is open to opposing opinions, the dissent of a single member
of a group can cause the group to re-evaluate their decision through discussion and
scientific reasoning (Steinkuehler and Duncan, 2009) and decide whether or not the
decision they are making is sensible or if they are just deciding based on the previous
disposition of the group. The ability to judge information as reliable, to determine what
resources are needed for a problem, and where to find required information are traditional
information literacy skills that have been expanded and updated to capture and promote
information literacy practices in new media spaces