Beware the bubble: Social media often feeds you ONLY items that are similar to things you have already shown interest in. This can prevent you from ever seeing more than one side to a story. It can even lead to intensification, where the outlet feeds you stories or videos that become more extreme over time in an effort to keep you watching.
Be open-minded: All humans have a tendency to believe reports that confirm what they already believe, and to doubt stories that contradict their beliefs. Social media magnifies this effect many times, making it difficult not to live in an echo chamber. Ask questions about the stories you see. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. If you read an item and find yourself discounting it because you don’t agree with it, take another look.
Be skeptical: does the headline sound unlikely? Don’t take headlines at face value.
Identify the author: many fake stories are anonymous. A real journalist will have many credible stories to their name. If you can’t find out who wrote it, be wary.
Check spelling: does the website URL have a funky spelling that imitates a real news outlet? Any odd suffixes or substitutions (like putting a 1 instead of an l)?
Compare: Look at the headline, the picture, and the article content. Do they all match up or are they meant to mislead you? In general, beware of pictures or videos that make odd claims; they have often been repurposed.
Consult multiple sources: Are other news outlets reporting the same story, or something similar? If it’s a big story, many outlets will be reporting on it. What do ‘opposing’ sources say about the story? What facts are being reported, and do they match across sources?
Fact check: Check the story with watchdog sites like snopes.com, politico.com, and politifact.com. These are outfits that strive to make sure that the information from news sources is accurate.
Dig in: Does the article quote sources or cite studies? Trace them back to their sources. Read the actual study (studies are often distorted or misquoted). Put quotations in context.
Put quotations in context; find out where they came from. This quotation is a line of dialogue from a fantasy novel by C. S. Lewis, not a reflection of his own feelings!
A video of this man recently appeared with the caption “This man carried his horse on his back for 3 miles after it was bitten by a snake. The horse was able to be saved.” In fact, this is a Ukrainian strong man who carries horses for short distances as a party trick.
ALWAYS beware inspirational quotations on the internet, especially if they’re attributed to Einstein, Lincoln, C. S. Lewis, or another very famous, frequently-quoted person. Inspirational internet quotations are notoriously difficult to verify, because they proliferate across webpages. Try quoteinvestigator.com or track it down in a reference BOOK such as Bartlett’s Quotations, but do not trust internet quotations unless they come with a specific citation you can check yourself.
This is a popular inspirational quotation, but it’s not correctly attributed. C. S. Lewis never wrote this sentence.
William O’Flaherty tracked it down and says: “I found a book by Charles Marshall entitled Shattering the Glass Slipper that contain the closest possible alternative. In it he states ‘Integrity is doing the right thing when you don’t have to—when no one else is looking or will ever know—when there will be no congratulations or recognition for having done so.’ Thus, it’s likely that someone paraphrased this passage and falsely attributed words to Lewis that were original with Marshall. This is a common way misquotes happen; people don’t remember where they read something and don’t take the time to confirm it.”