Unfortunately in today’s world fake news is becoming a larger problem every day. The internet makes it so easy for people to just go and post stories that are just not true. Anyone who wants to spread a lie has the power to write a story and post it across various social media platforms and have millions read fake news. There is no real way to stop these kinds of posts because they will just happen. You cannot prevent a person from writing the story and sharing it. However, there is a way to better educate yourself and others in order to spot fake news. This is important because it allows people to pick out what is fake and what is real.
Fact Check did an article about how people can spot fake news and some key things to look out for. They bring up some ways that you can quickly pick out fake news. The first being checking the source and making sure it is credible. If it is an article published by the New York Times, chances are it is probably real. However, if it’s some unheard of company or website that you have not heard much about, it is probably fake. These kinds of methods are so easy to just quickly double check and it would prevent fake news from spreading the way it does. However, even with these methods there is one large problem left in place.
Everyone needs to partake in checking the sources and going through these methods to prevent the spread of fake news. The biggest problem is that one person sees it and shares it without thinking. Then their friends see it and the process continues because all it takes is one person who does not fact check. It is much easier to believe the headline then to go in and do some investigating, so some people do not bother. While I think these methods help reduce some of the fake news they do not get rid of it. The people who really care are already doing this kind of stuff. However, those who spread the fake news do not care and will most likely never check sources. Meaning that despite these methods fake news will continue to spread like wild fire. In order to get rid of fake news we need prevent the spread of it and these methods may help people see past the fake new; however, they will not prevent the spread.
https://www.factcheck.org/2016/11/how-to-spot-fake-news/
https://www.npr.org/tags/502124007/fake-news
Mike's Corner 