People receive a lot of information these days, and once in a while we can’t tell which is true and which is false. In this article, we will try to show in which sectors of our lives we are most exposed to fake news and how to check the credibility of read content.
Fake news on social media
Today, fake content is the scourge of social media. Many people are subconsciously subjected to fake news because they have compelling and often controversial headlines. This poses an extraordinary threat to users. Internet users do not check the sources of the content, so it happens that they may accidentally distribute it, although sometimes these are deliberate actions. There are many disinformation campaigns around the world with the sole purpose of misleading people. Research shows that fake news on social media can spread up to six times faster than facts. Fighting with their consequences is difficult because there are no legal regulations that would prohibit spreading false information.
Disinformation war
Verification of sources
The amount of information that reaches people confuses them. Most citizens cannot cope with content verification. If you want to reduce the risk of falling victim to fake news, you should follow five basic tips known as the “SHEEP” method.
1. Source – Gather information from sites, accounts, and organizations you trust
2. History – check the date of the source from which you get the information. For example, if an account exists for several days, the probability of its authenticity is low.
3. Emotions – If the information evokes great emotions in you, or you suspect that its purpose is manipulation, double-check.
4. Evidence – if the information is mainstreamed, the chance that it is true increases.
5. Pictures – check that the pictures are what they should show.
An additional method of verifying the content is reverse searching, which allows for obtaining more information about a given photo, such as the date of the first publication or addresses of websites where the given image was used. An example of a website that uses this feature is TinEye.com, which we recommend to everyone.
Summary
