Can you spot fake news?
In the last couple of months, our daily lives have been inundated with huge amounts of information. There’s so much out there, and so much information is being produced in this digital age that often it can be difficult to separate legitimate news stories and information from fraudulent articles and headlines that have been created to do nothing more than grab attention and spread misinformation.
With all this information comes the important responsibilities of learning, examining and questioning where information comes from and from what sources. As a librarian, one of my most important roles is to carefully examine books, articles and websites, in order to ensure that the information I provide to our community is the most accurate information available.
One of the first things I look for when I read an online article is what the original source of the information is. For example, when you are reading or sharing articles on a social media platform such as Facebook, where the information is being shared as links to other websites, take a look at who wrote the article and what source it came from. If you can’t find an author, or if it’s hard to identify an “about them” section of the website, then the information is probably questionable. Another example of how you might identify a fake article from a real one are those annoying pop-up ads. An article from a reputable site usually won’t have a bunch of popup ads that you have to click through just to get to the article you want to read. Another really easy way to identify questionable information is that it is usually filled with spelling or grammatical errors.
An important thing to remember in this vast digital age is to check your emotions. Those fakenews articles often have attention-grabbing headlines that have you locked in and sharing before having even read what the article is about. Stop, take time to read the whole article, and reflect on what you just read. Go through all the above steps and make sure the information you are sharing is accurate. Check out “Truth: A Brief History of Total Bullsh*t” by Tom Phillips for more on the importance of information literacy.
These are just a few ways that you can do your part in sharing of accurate information with friends, family and members of your community. While with every news article or information site,