Having 24/7 access to the Internet and information via social media is an amazing thing. Right now anyone can post and share information. This also means that we should be careful about the information we trust and what we choose to share with our families and friends. There's a lot of misinformation out there, sometimes labeled "fake news." Here are three quick steps we can take to make sure the information we are using and sharing is accurate*:
1. Investigate the source. Is it a reliable source of unbiased news and information or has the source been created for another purpose? Not sure? Try typing: Source URL Wikipedia. For example: www.nytimes.com wikipedia
2. Find the original source. One information source often cites or quotes another. Find out where their information is coming from then check that source. (Use the Wikipedia trick shown above.)
3. Check better sources. Over time you will develop your own list of trusted sources you can check when you see something crazy or surprising on the web. You can go to those sources, search for the story, and if nothing pops up you know it's a hoax or a joke. It takes time to develop that list, so until you have your own, please see below for links to the following sites recommended by librarians and fact checkers: Snopes, Factcheck.org, Politifact, and ProPublica. You might also want to add long-published newspapers like the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, or The New York Times. You can access these newspapers on the WWW or through the Library's US Major Dailies database.
*This information comes from a series of YouTube videos created by Mike Caulfield at Washington State University. It was created as part of NewsWise, an online literacy program created in Canada.
One last caveat: Make sure you read a social media post before you share it. (That means you read the whole thing and you only share things that you believe are accurate.) Only you can prevent misinformation!
It's a good idea of build up your own set of information sources that you trust. Here are some sites that are popular with fact checkers and librarians because they are accurate sources of information where you can see if something that has been reported is real or if it's a popular conspiracy theory or piece of propaganda.
Can you tell fact from opinion? Can you determine if a website is presenting unbiased, accurate information or if it is presenting information from a particular point of view?
In 2017, Sam Wineberg and Sarah McGrew of the Stanford History Education Group published a working paper describing an experiment they conducted. They asked people to compare the information they found on two different websites to determine which site contained credible or accurate and unbiased information.
They were asked to evaluate information they found on the two websites you see below. Which organization is more credible, meaning which one is more likely to give you unbiased information on bullying or other issues related to children?
The American College of Pediatricians
American Academy of Pediatrics
You can learn more about Wineberg and McGrew's findings by reading their paper or by watching Mike Caulfield's quick video describing the results of their study.
Here's a presentation you can use to explain this method to others.
You can also edit the presentation if you download it.
