4 Ways To Spot a Fake…Fake News That Is.

Fake new is a real issue. We have seen it time and time again and the scary thing seems to be…if the same story keeps getting told it becomes ‘real’. Real at least in the minds of those have read it and it becomes ‘fact’.  Call me silly but I think facts, whether I agree or disagree, I think facts and context matter.

There is SO MUCH information at our fingertips we need to be critical thinkers and  not just read enticing headlines and decide that is the whole story.

So how can you stop the spread of fake news and be a more critical information consumer?  It can be hard with so many amazing things that go on in the world, what you might expect to ‘fake news’ is real and what you think is real is fake. You just need to use your noodle.  Here is some information from Huffington Post that helped to get me started.

• Click on the story and read it. Many times is becomes VERY clear the story is not all that. It may be an all-out fake or it may be a headline that lured you into sharing it without knowing all the facts
• Scroll to the bottom of the post and many times there is an ‘about’ page where they will flat out tell you that are a satire site or for entertainment.
• Do a ‘gut check’. Does it seem plausible?  Do a double check.  What is the date, location, details…use that info to do your own Google search to see if you can find the story on some other site with some other sources.
• If you do share some fake news (or one of my pet peeves an old scary weather forecast that has people thinking there is something to be concerned about when there is not) you have the ability to DELETE IT. We have ALL shared something was fake or out of date. Guess what? You have the ability to correct it. I realize my mistake and remove it.