The motives of different internet users can be different from those of journalists who produce content within specific professional and ethical guidelines.
This requires other users to check and verify postings and content and the motives of their producers in order to confront fake news. Nevertheless, even a critical media-literate social media user may fall prey to misinformation.
Images, websites, false profiles or news-like content is sometimes created with the intention of benefitting through fraud. Sometimes this is made for financial gain, and sometimes to influence a campaign or an issue. Misleading information can also be unintentionally circulated by individuals, activists and organisations with good intentions, so it is crucial to maintain a critical reading mindset when consuming media, especially when the information is somehow surprising or new.
Even a critical media-literate social media user may fall prey to misinformation
The more professional this fraud is, the more detailed it is in their creation. For example, a false website leading to a news link is only recognisable by viewing the actual address after clicking the post because the visuals and text seem exactly like the original at first glance.
Users in this new climate of communication should always assume errors in information on networks and should doubt information and content, always investigating and analysing the content, and separating feelings and emotions in dealing with any posting until the objectives of the content have been investigated.
The following details must be verified:
- Verify the source: Who are they, what are their motives and interests.
- Verify the time the text or images were uploaded. Compare the text with the time and search for day or night in the images. Look for the season of the year and compare it with the scenes in the images. Analyse time differences.
- Verify the location: Google-search images of the location and compare them with what is posted. Geographically locate every location and compare it with the image or the posting you are verifying.
- Verify the image: Save it on your computer and upload it to Google Images. Find the origin, where and when it was posted. Search for any Photoshop tampering of the image and the parties behind posting it. [https://edition.cnn.com/2019/08/22/us/debunk-amazon-photos-trnd/index.html]
- Verify the video: Upload the video thumb on YouTube or Google. Check where it had been posted and verify the identity of the poster. Analyse the images’ locations in the video. Listen to any sound effects. Follow the cutting and montage. Check the YouTube uploading time.
- Verify the posting and tweets: do not believe any post or tweet in PDF format. Go to the original account owner and make sure the posting or tweet are on their account. Ensure that nobody had hacked the accounts you are verifying.
Network users have two types of verification available. The first is closed verification carried out by the user alone or through a special contact with other sources or users. The second is open verification through investigating the information integrity of the network by interacting with other users. This type has risks as the verification process of a rumour may end up to be a secret way of re-posting the rumour.
Pro tips for verifying news, text content and users:
- Use sites to debunk the spread of false information, such as Snopes, and to check whether the content to be verified is available on such sites. Identify the original content and its source by searching for the same or similar content online.
- Search for reports about the events in question in other news sources. Search for the first date of publishing. Contacting the original publisher might give you further information on the content.
- The objective of verifying the source of the content is to know if the person or account publishing the content is reliable or not. Asking the following questions may help:
- Is the source credible. Who are they? Where are they? Are you familiar with this account? Was the past content reliable? What is the nature of the content that was previously uploaded? Can you check the identity of the uploader and contact them directly?
- Check the uploader’s history on social media. How active are they on the account, and what do they talk about and share? Where do they reside based on the account initiation data?
- Check their friends and followers on social networks. Who do they follow and who are their followers? Whom do they interact with? Are they on the list of other people or not?
- Try to find other accounts related to the same name or username on other social networks in order to find more information. If you find a real name, use people-searching tools such as Spokeo, White Pages, Pipl.com, WebMii to find contact information. Social networks like LinkedIn can also be used to learn more about a person’s professional background.
- Check if the account of the person on Facebook or Twitter is already authenticated by testing the authentication mark (blue tick mark). By passing the mouse over the blue mark, you will see the words “page verified”, if it is.
Keep Reading:
Social Media Glossary; How do the social media services make money?
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This article was updated on January 14th 2020.
