Fake News Doesn’t Amuse majority of people, like you and I, enjoy sharing our point of views, the latest news and most relevant stories on our social media with our family, friends and distinctly our followers.
We are all guilty of posting/sharing, some more than others and also for different reasons. Perhaps it's an interesting story that inspired you, news about a celebrity that you like, or something that made you laugh.
But my question is that when you see something you like online, do you check to make sure that it's true before you share it? Perhaps not!
Not everything that we read and/or see on the internet is evidently true - and if it isn't, and we proceed on sharing it, in result we are spreading fake news to more people. This feed the cycle of ‘believing in something that is actually made up’.
I bet you’re wondering how to identify the fake from the real deal; well the facts are pretty vivid if you just look a little closer.
For instance, read the URL or web address at the top of a browser window. Bogus-news websites that appear to belong to a legitimate news source tend to have extra suffix at the end of the address that isn’t .com- which can include .co, .info, .net, etc. Example: According to Greenwich News ABCnews.com.co isn’t the actual websites for ABC News.
Next, go beyond the headlines. According to BBC News, urges people to consider who wrote the piece, click on the author’s byline to investigate who he/she is. Verifying the author’s names will determine who they say they are. A story without a byline and/or an author’s name that sounds ridiculous should raise some immediate red flags. - Another hint of advice would be to decide whether the story itself backs up what the headline is stating.
Lastly, check the sources and timing. Bogus stories often try to pass themselves off as legitimate news, which may quote official-sounding sources; but if you do a little digging, you’ll find that those sources don’t exist or don’t square with the info being reported in the fake article. Also check the dates if it’s several months, years old.
Fake news is unarguably a problem in our now-a-days media. But the statement in question is “Are you worried how easy it is to make fake websites/information?”
Whether it bothers you directly, fake news is a problem for different reasons.
Firstly, when these fake website upload ‘their form of news’ and the consumers without checking the legitimacy of it – can be influent to have less trust in today’s media, as well as make other consumers’ believe in false information.
Secondly, people only tend to share things that they agree with. So if people are sharing and believing a lot of fake news, unknowingly, can be easily sucked into a bubble that is completely inaccurately different to the real world and long way from the truth.
Additionally, sometimes a story might be called fake news (when actually it isn't) by someone, or a group of people, who don't want to accept that the news is true - even if it might be. They will tell the public that a story is fake just because they don't want it to be true, such as the government during the period of election/s.
- Some people will call things fake news, when really they just have a different opinion, such as politics, celebrity gossip, sports etc.
Calling something fake news, when it isn't really, is a problem as it can mean some people don't know what to believe anymore.
By Bryanna Hylton
