Social media is a haven for peddlers of fake news. Here are five tips that will help with protecting yourself from the massive scale of misinformation.
There's a popular quote among journalists that goes—"If someone says it's raining, and another person says it's dry, it's not your job to quote them both. Your job is to look out the window and find out which is true."
In the digital age where everyone has a device that can access social media in a snap, the likelihood of believing in fake news increases rapidly. Today, even consumers of information share the same responsibilities with those who deliver them.
So what is fake news? How do we keep ourselves from falling into its trap?
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What Is Fake News?
Fake news is defined as an entirely invented story designed to make people believe something false. This type of material is often promulgated to promote a certain person, product, or visit a particular website.
Stories that have some truth, but are not 100 per cent accurate can also be filed under fake news. For example, an article that only quoted parts of what a public figure said can give false impressions of their meaning.
Who Makes Them?
In the Philippines where chismis (gossip) culture is prevalent, it can be assumed that easy access to social media plays a big part in the evolution of this behaviour. Every day, people are given the power to relay information online regardless if it is real or not.
The Center for Information Technology and Society (CITS) also theorised that those who spread fake news earn profit from their agenda-driven stories. "Those who operate fake news websites want as many visitors to their sites as possible. While some may want their visitors to see the content and have it influence their political values, others simply want internet users to click on them, which often takes users to a website where users see advertising," the group explained.
"When a website has ads on it, those visits pay the website owner advertising revenue. Both of these motivations—ideological and commercial—need as many people to click on the website link and visit as possible," it added.
Below are sure-fire ways to gatekeep information: