By: Nimrit Sodhi
With the resurgence of fake news culture, and the increased spread of it through new forms of media, consumers need to be able to identify and analyze credible information now more than ever. One of the largest factors in the importance of fake news is the resurgence of the term through recent events.
With the resurgence of the term “fake news” and the increased press coverage of the media itself, fake news culture has taken the world by storm: in the worst way possible. Throughout the 2016 elections and beyond, President Donald Trump popularized the term “fake news” throughout his campaign. This, in turn, led to major public distrust in media outlets, reliable or not. The possibly largest contributor to its massive spread is hiding within our back pockets: social media.
Rather than having editors proof the information being posted, social media sites tend to spread their information based on algorithms, which don’t know how to identify the validity of the content. It’s no surprise that false information travels like a forest fire once it is posted. Many social media outlets have enlisted efforts in order to curb the spread of fake news, but false information finds its own loopholes. For example, in an attempt to stop the increasing levels of fake news on their platform, Facebook decided to implement a plan that involved users, a few chosen at random, to decide whether the news given to them was trustworthy or not. Unfortunately, this plan ended up backfiring because with the increased spread of fake news through social media, finding a reliable source of information is beginning to get harder and harder. Fortunately, there are ways to analyze information to find whether it is credible or not in order to be the best-informed one can be.
Here are five tips to help make finding a reliable source a bit easier! The first tip is to check the credibility and bias of the author. The second tip is to account for the time frame and quality of the source. “Does it look professional? Is it recent? Are there spelling errors?”, are all questions one should ask when analyzing a source. Tip number three is to verify your facts with experts around you, while tip number four is to always check your sources citations. Be sure to check if the links on a source work, who is quoted in the source, and if the information corroborates with other sources. The fifth, and final, tip is to use subtle keys that the site gives you that verifies your information. For example, Twitter often puts labels on government officials and candidates, in order to promote their information rather than false ones.
With these tips in mind, finding a reliable source will be much easier, and you’ll be able to be confident in your information, as well as be well informed. With the correct tools, users can find a way to stay reliably informed in this day and age. Without being reliably informed, there can be major political unrest and an overall increased conflict throughout society. Being able to understand where information is from and how it spread is important to know if one wants to be well informed and aware of the world around them.