Fake news and misinformation is not a novel concept that is only associated with the Internet and social media. It has been around since the newspaper, radio and television eras. With each era, fake news has invented tactics and strategies to adapt and fit in with new popular media outlets. Following the advent of social media and the technological advances that are associated with it, people started casting aside traditional media outlets and flocked to social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. This sea change has not only enabled journalists, news outlets, and writers to reach a bigger audience and directly interact with their communities, but it also allowed everybody to become a publisher. Social media has broken down major barriers which would traditionally prevent many writers from making careers and has leveled the playing field, but at what cost? Social media has made the propagation of fake news easier and has taken it to an almost unprecedented level because everybody now has the ability to create content and distribute information. Naturally, this massive propagation of content has had a toll on people’s trust in news on social media and news in general. According to Statista only 34% of North Americans trust social media. However this low percentage is intuitive if we know that out of 200 million tweets discussing COVID-19, 82% of the top 50 most influential retweeters were bots, and this is just a tiny sample of the magnitude of the problem. Due to this huge proliferation of fake news on the digital landscape, folks became reluctant to share or believe genuine news for fear that it is false. Therefore, there is a growing urge for these falsehoods to be marked and omitted. Below are a few basic but useful tips that will help you to detect fake news on your feed.
Understand the difference between misinformation and disinformation
Given the volume of fake news dissemination on the digital landscape, social media is easily considered the biggest hub for fake news. Fake news is a general term that refers to false, misleading information that is introduced as news in order to disfigure a person or an entity or for advertising profits. Fake news is not always a deliberate act, it could be done by mistake. This is what is dubbed misinformation. Misinformation is inaccurate, misleading information that is not meant to deceive but has occurred due to human error. Which means that it is information that is taken as a fact without realizing it is wrong. On the other side, there is intentional fake news that varies in nature from misinformation. This is called disinformation. Disinformation is knowingly spreading misinformation in order to deceive or mislead. It is deemed to be the most malicious type of falsehood because it is shared to cause doubt or divisiveness. Disinformation can take many forms such as propaganda or clickbait, but they all share sensational content.
Develop a critical mindset
Humans by nature tend to believe what goes along with their beliefs and values, so if information fits their standards, they will most likely accept it. Fake news takes advantage of this characteristic to manipulate us. One of the purposes is to play on our emotions and provoke sharp reactions such as fear or anger; in other words, to create a shock value. This often makes it more believable and spread faster. When you come across such news that strongly stirs up your emotions keep a cool head. Do not respond to it emotionally. Instead, use your thoughts rationally and critically. Try to read between the lines and perceive the underlying message. Is the purpose to convince you of a certain standpoint? Is it a clickbait? Are they trying to sell you something?
Examine the source
One of the most significant ways to spot falsehoods is by examining the source. Most social media platforms are recognizing the danger of fake news on their platforms and have developed tools to help detect and prevent the spread of such information. Recently, Twitter announced Birdwatch, a pilot program where users are able to fact-check tweets. Platforms are working hard to prevent their algorithms from promoting fake news but as policies get put in place at these tech giants, fake news creators find new loopholes. This is why it is important when you are scrolling through your feeds and run into dubious news to just take your time to scrutinize the information. First, check the news source. See if it comes from a legitimate, credible outlet, and if they have a good track record. If not, check the site background and domain. Hoax sites usually go by strange domain extensions like “com.co”, “.infonet”, “offer” etc. Check if there are spelling errors in company names. Usually fake news sites that imitate credible, renowned media outlets use the same name with just subtle changes. For instance, they will change the letter ‘a’ to a similar Cyrillic letter ‘a’. It is important to also research the author of the article or video. See if they are real and known for their expertise, and if they tend to “lay it on thick”. Also, make sure that the site is not satire, such as Clickhole or Onion.
Varying news sources
In the world we live in, which is teeming with tons of news outlets, it is highly important to vary our set of sources that we receive information from. One news source is always insufficient, even if it is not fake. News is always reported from a certain angle and viewpoint, and includes the editors or writers' biases whether it is subtle or not. So, in order to be extensively informed about a certain topic, make sure that you draw it from various parties. One source will just make your vision incomplete. As a result, you will be better equipped to contrast and compare different angles and views in order to get the complete story.
Examine the facts
A credible news story, particularly on a complex issue, must be based on concrete details like Who, What, Where, When and Why. A professional article is reinforced by fact-gathering, quotes from experts, trustworthy data, valid statistics and statements from reliable eye-witnesses on the scene. Fake news stories will usually lack these facts and are created with dubious and evidence that is twisted. Sometimes these fake news stories will contain grammatical mistakes and misspellings. When coming across articles that miss these details, don’t hesitate to examine it. Ask if those facts are real or made-up, or if they are twisted to convince you of a specific point of view.
Don't let images or video fool you
Photos and video are unbelievably powerful. Since the invention of photography, photos and videos have enormously impacted our vision of the world. With the technological leap that we’ve witnessed in recent decades, there are more visuals in the world than ever before. Unfortunately, not all of these visuals are real; many are altered. The human susceptibility to altered images is notably daunting when it comes to fake news. This is noticeably dangerous when nearly half of the population can not tell whether an image is fake. Another tactic in manipulation is using real images out of context. For instance, a photo or video depicting a certain neighborhood could actually be from a different neighborhood a year or two ago and be irrelevant to the article. Another extremely dangerous tactic used in fake news is known as deepfakes. Deepfakes are fabricated videos/media created by sophisticated artificial intelligence that yield fake sounds and visuals that are very realistic. Deepfakes are an extremely dangerous weapon on social media because of its power to influence in combination with users instinctively sharing content. Social platforms are working tirelessly to control doctored images, videos and deepfakes, but there are a few things you can do yourself. In order to verify an image or video, check and see if there are strange shadows or jagged edges around a figure. There are also tools available like Google Reverse Image Search to verify the origin of the image and whether it has been altered or not.
Misinformation on social media will continue to be a complicated cat and mouse game. Although we cannot personally control the creation of fake news and how social media algorithms feed us content, we can control how it is shared. In a world where many of us instinctively hit the share button, if we only stopped and asked the simple question of, “is this real?,” we can begin to stem the flow of disinformation.