How to Identify Fake News in Social Media

Identifying fake news on social media platforms is difficult for the individual user, primarily because it comes from trusted friends. It is also particularly dangerous for the same reason; the trusted source makes it more likely to be believable.

Analytics site Statista has an interesting page that highlights numerous pieces of data about fake news. The data in this first chart should surprise no one. As a single site Facebook is still king of the hill when it comes to fake news, although Twitter is not that far behind.

If you too feel surrounded by fake news, the second chart will be interesting. It shows the U.S. to be considerably behind three other countries in terms of exposure to fake news. There may be reasons why various countries have different levels of exposure to fake news, but they are not evident upon simple inspection.





NBC news explains a bit how bots work to distribute fake news and gives some tips for recognizing a fake news post when you see it. The advice may seem a bit familiar, but it is good. Remember that the source of fake news is something fake. Their recommendations have some good commentary:

• "Question the source. If a story comes from a newspaper, is it from a reputable site? The Denver Guardian, cited often in 2016, never existed and listed an empty car park as its address.
• Look for confirmation. If you don’t see a story across mainstream media, there’s probably a good reason why. “Mainstream media is motivated by getting an audience.” Huxley* says.
• Check the facts with third-party sites like Snopes and Politifact. Admittedly, though, fact checking has its limits. By the time a claim is researched and proven false, it may have already reached millions of accounts.
• Call out fake news you see in your network — but do it privately. “What polarizes people further is calling them out publicly. Then people get defensive because it makes them look stupid or gullible for posting it in the first place.” Huxley says." 

*Sam Huxley. practice chair of risk and business strategy, for the communications firm LEVICK.

 
Those are good suggestions, and we should all be following them. The article has another good idea, though, "Burst your own bubble." We all live in self-created bubbles these days. In following content we enjoy we have surrounded ourselves with content we agree with. Subscribe to some feeds that provide alternative points of view. Your own perspectives will be stronger after some reflection.

There are other sites and a few tools that can help in this challenging endeavor. I'll discuss some of those tomorrow.

Stay safe!