top of page
Buscar
  • Foto del escritorUmbrella

Are we being manipulated by fake news?

Actualizado: 2 feb 2020

”Don’t believe everything you read on the internet”, is something we've all heard. But, how do we distinguish what's authentic and what's not? Today's world is filled with a lot of information, and due to social media and communication, this information travels very fast, and sometimes, in a very untrue way. According to Los Angeles Times, fake news had been spreading for the last five weeks of the past election season, which lead to people changing their vote and opinions about the candidates. With this simple example, we can see that something so irrelevant can make a big change in the world, and all because of false stories. Spotting fake news can be done in a matter of minutes, here is how.


There are different techniques and methods on how spot it. First of all, get to know the types of fake news. There is misinformation, false headlines, posts shared through social media, and satire. All of these can be transmitted either on radio, newspapers television, the internet, and most importantly, social media.


The first thing to do, is look at the creator. Is it an unknown source or author? If so, search if it's an authentic source or piece, there are various websites like snopes.com which tell you if it's real or not. What is the purpose of the story? Is it trying to shade someone in any way? Is it an ad? Always double check! Then, look at the message, understand the purpose of the story. You never know if you are actually reading an opinion and persuasive article instead of real news and facts.

Pay attention to the title, most fake news get a lot of views due to their very interesting click bait titles, but once you get to reading the whole story you realize it's not even true. If the title does not look authentic, or looks like something that is made up, don't click on it! Check the date, a lot of chaos is made when sharing old stories that aren't even authentic at the moment, check the date and if it's new, then you can share.


By simply looking at the creator, message, date, title and purpose, the chances of being manipulated by fake news reduces. Once we take action and talk to our community and friends we can stop fake news and stop people from believing in it. This will not only lower the chance of this spreading around the world, but also to be aware of it and most importantly, remember not to share what you are not capable of proving.


References:

Robertson, A. (2019, December 3). How to fight lies, tricks, and chaos online. Retrieved from https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/3/20980741/fake-news-facebook-twitter-misinformation-lies-fact-check-how-to-internet-guide

Facts about fake news's influence on U.S. elections and the fight against misinformation. (2019, March 19). Retrieved from https://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-fake-news-election-20190319-story.html

Kaplan, L. (2019, July 24). 4 steps to stop the spread of disinformation online. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/techtank/2019/07/23/four-steps-to-stop-the-spread-of-disinformation-online/




17 visualizaciones0 comentarios
bottom of page