Social media has its beauty, but also its shadows. It is easy to spread and come across false information or so-called fake news on all kinds of networks. When facing a global crisis or war crimes, these postings increase extremely.
But how can users identify fake news or build a broad and objective overview of current topics shared on social media?
We have collected a few steps to consider when using social media:
- Follow updates by qualified news broadcasts that are known to be trustworthy. Most of them are also present on TikTok or Instagram.
- Compare news to see whether this information is checked and confirmed by multiple other sources.
- Check the source and the author. Who is sharing this information? Are they trustworthy? Are they journalists? What other content did they share?
- Try to get information in multiple languages and compare them.
- Avoid live streams on social media that only show landscapes or sensitive footage without any context or introduction about the person behind these streams.
- Google reverse pictures and/or check if a video seems familiar to see if they have been published before elsewhere. Often, these images are taken out of other contexts and are misused.
- Hold social media platforms accountable and report false information. They need your help to find these posts.
- Don’t share information that you feel unsure of.
But the most important tip is to build a critical mindset when using social media.
