#60, spot a #fakenews site in 10 steps
“There are ways to quickly discern whether a site falls into the “fake news” category. But because we usually find individual stories on our social media feeds rather than going directly to a website, it can be difficult to differentiate the real from the fabricated. Our brains are overwhelmed by information coming at us from all directions, and we have trouble differentiating between sources on social media. We need to constantly remind ourselves to stop and analyze before we share a story.”
She expands on her ten steps in this article:
1. Check the web address.
2. Research the name of the site.
3. Look for visual clues.
4. Be wary of too many ads.
5. Look for markers of established news sites.
6. Check the “About” page.
7. Run the main photo through Google Images’ reverse image search.
8. Check when and where the site was registered.
9. Fact-check specific claims.
10. Be wary of overly sensational or emotional headlines.
See More:
- International Fact-Checking Day
- Fact-Checking Day Lesson Plan
- Evaluating Information: The Cornerstone of Civic Online Reasoning Executive Summary, Stanford Education Group
- Media Literacy Now
- What Web Page Structure Reveals on News Quality, Frederic Filloux. “A simple look at the components of an HTML page tells a lot about the reliability of its contents. Problem is, distribution platforms don’t bother looking at those signals.”
- #100hardtruths-#fakenews: a primer on digital media literacy
