Fake news is everywhere, yet social media seems to take the cake when it comes to fabricating and disseminating false information. And now with AI and other tools, it’s become quite easy to make images and videos look real and attribute quotes and actions to people in order to stir up controversy. This is especially true as we ramp up to the November election, and with polarizing ideas, it seems as though some social media users are too quick to share “news” that agrees with their confirmation bias instead of taking the time to fact check.
In my quest for research due diligence, I came across an article from security software company, McAfee, that outlines seven types of mis- and disinformation, and what we as social media users can do to spot fake information. These are their recommendations:
- Consider the source
- Does the source have credibility and a history of dealing in facts with honesty and integrity? Is it authored by a real person or institution? Are the citation sources legitimate?
- Check the date
- Is it a recycled story from long ago making a reappearance? Are the photos and information current? For example, just last week, I saw a post on social media that said “Kamala Harris Drops Out of Race.” It was an old ABC News story from 2020 when she suspended her presidential campaign, altered to make it seem like it was present day.
- Check your emotions
- We all know headlines are supposed to capture your attention and tend to be a bit sensationalized. If a headline or article evokes strong emotion from you, fact checking is a good way to make sure the content isn’t playing into your bias. Emotional reactions to “news” ensure it will spread like wildfire as users share it as fact.
- Expand your media diet
- Check a broad range of sources for your information. Each source and author may have biases of their own, so when you stumble upon a story, see what multiple outlets are reporting on that same topic.
- Let an expert do the fact-checking for you
- McAfee suggest multiple fact-checking groups, such as
We can slow the circulation of false information on social media by doing a little research and only sharing what we can confirm to be true.
Dhaliwal, J. (2024, May 8). How to spot fake news in your social media feed. McAfee Blog. <https://www.mcafee.com/blogs/internet-security/spot-fake-news-and-misinformation-in-your-social-media-feed/>.