FACEBOOK IS SHUTTING DOWN ON MARCH 15 BECAUSE MARK ZUCHERBERG WANT HIS OLD LIFE

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TOPIC: HOW TO SPOT FAKE NEWS AND WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW HOW TO SPOT IT.

DEFINITION:

WHAT IS FAKE NEWS OR HOAX NEWS?

ACCORDING TO WEBOPEDIA, “IT REFERS TO FALSE INFORMATION OR PROPAGANDA PUBLISHED

UNDER THE GUISE OF BEING AUTHENTIC NEWS.” OR SIMPLY MEANS “A MADE UP STUFF,
MANIPULATED TO LOOK CREDIBLE”

PEOPLE CREATE FAKE NEWS FOR ALL SORT OF REASONS:

SOMETIMES IT IS CREATED TO MAKE US LAUGH

OTHER TIMES ITS TO INFLUENCE OUR OPINION

OR MAKE MONEY BY ATTRACTING OUR CLICK “ CLICK BAIT”

OR SOMETIMES THEY ARE JUST JOKES

FAKE NEWS WAS NOT A TERM MANY PEOPLE USED 3 OR 4 YEARS AGO BUT IT IS NOW BECOME
WIDELY USED.

BUT DID YOU KNOW THAT FAKE NEWS IS NOT A NEW PHENOMENON. IT HAS BEEN AROUND FOR
ABOUT AS LONG AS PEOPLE HAS BEEN COMMUNICATING. PEOPLE BEEN USING OUR TOOLS OF
COMMUNICATION TO TELL GREAT BIG FAKE NEWS.

WE CAN SEE EVIDENCES DATED BACK THOUSAND OF YEARS OF LEADERS, REPORTERS, PUBLISHERS
AND HISTORIANS BENDING THE TRUTH TO MAKE THEMSELVES OR THEIR BOSSES LOOK GOOD OR TELL
A BIT OF A STORY.

FOR EXAMPLE BACK THEN MANY NEWS PUBLISHER REALIZED THAT THEY COULD SELL MORE COPIES IF
THE NEWS IS EXCITING EVEN IF IT WASN’T EXACTLY TRUE.

TODAY, BECAUSE OF THE TECHNOLOGY WE HAVE, WHICH IS THE INTERNET, WE ARE ALL MEMBERS OF
THE MEDIA. WE CAN BE CONTRIBUTORS AND WE CAN PUBLISHED ANYTHING WITHOUT ANYBODY
TAKING A SECOND LOOK AT IT. IT’S A PRIVILLEGE BUT SOME ARE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF IT AND IT
CAN BE DANGEROUS.
THERE WAS THIS STORY ABOUT A WOMAN NAMED HALEY. SHE WORK AS AN ANCHOR IN THE US.
ONE DAY, SHE WAS AT WORK AND SHE WAS BEING BOMBARDED WITH NOTIFICATIONS ON HER
CELLPHONE. PEOPLE WERE SAYING SOME PRETTY HURTFUL THINGS AND SHE WAS EVEN GETTING
DEATH THREATS. BUT SHE HAD NO IDEA WHY. SO SHE HAVE IT INVESTIGATED. SO SHE FOUND OUT
THAT ALL OF THAT HATE ONLINE STARTED FROM ONE TWEET AND IT CAME FROM A STRANGER.
EARLIER IN THE DAY, A VIDEO STARTED GOING VIRAL AND IT WAS ABOUT A WOMAN IN A NAIL
SALON SAYING RACIST THINGS TO A WOMAN WHO WORK TO A NAIL SALON. AND FOR WHATEVER
REASON THIS STRANGER TWEETED THAT THAT WOMAN WAS HALEY. IT LOOKS NOTHING LIKE HER
BUT SHE TWEETED THAT AND ANOTHER PEOPLE STARTED SHARING IT ON FACEBOOK AND EVEN
SCREEN GRABBING HER PICTURES AND SHARING IT.

ONE PERSON ON TWEETER WITH A VERIFIED ACCOUNT WITH A WORD JOURNALIST IN HIS BIO AND
WITH MORE THAN 2 MILLION FOLLOWERS RETWEETED IT. HALEY WAS ONLINE LIKE CRAZY SAYING
THIS WASN’T ME THIS WASN’T ME. SHE EVEN TOLD TWEETER WHAT WAS HAPPENING AND TWEETER
SAID, IT DIDN’T GO AGAINST THEIR GUIDELINES.

HALEY WAS AN INNOCENT VICTIM OF FAKE NEWS. SAD RIGHT?

SO HOW TO SPOT FAKE NEWS?

DISCERNING FAKE FROM REAL NEWS IS DIFFICULT FOR ANYONE AND I DON’T THINK THERE IS A
MAGIC RECIPE. MAJORITY OF US AREN’T ABLE TO ACCURATELY DISTINGUISH FAKE FROM REAL NEWS
BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN WE SHOULD NOT TRY.

NOW LET ME GIVE YOU A HANDY HINTS TO HELP YOU SPOT FAKE NEWS.

1. SUSPISCIOUS. DOES THE STORY SEEM A BIT SUSPISCIOUS, IT IS TOO GOOD, TOO BAD OR
CRAZY TO BE TRUE? THEN PROBABLY IT IS!
2. DIG A BIT DEEPER
FIND OUT WHERE THE STORY CAME FROM, WHO IS THE AUTHOR, WHO ARE THE SOURCES,
WHAT WEBSITE DOES IT CAME FROM, DOES IT LOOK PROFESSIONAL AND NON -BIAS?
3. ASK YOURSELF WHO MIGHT BENEFIT FROM THE STORY IF WHO MIGHT END UP LOOKING BAD
4. IS IT ACTUALLY NEWS? THINK ABOUT WHY THE STORY WAS WRITTEN. COULD IT BE SATIRICAL
AND OPINION PIECE OR ADVERTISEMENT IN DISGUISE THAT JUST WANTED YOUR CLICK
5. AND IF YOU ARE STILL NOT SURE TRY DOING THAT THING WE LIKE TO DO THESE DAYS………
GOOGLE IT! USE YOUR PREFERRED INTERNET SEARCH ENGINES TO SEE IF YOU CAN FIND SOME
MORE LEGITIMATE INFORMATION. THERE ARE EVEN SOME SITES OUT THERE SPECIALIzed in
DEBUNKING FAKE NEWS.

AND OF COURSE USE CARE BEFORE YOU SHARE, LIKE OR COMMENT

NEWS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT INFORMS OUR VIEW OF THE WORLD AND IN RESPONSE WE
TAKE ACTION AND MAKE CHOICES BASED ON HOW WE PERCEIVED THE WORLD.

WE NEED TO MAKE A CONSCIOUS EFFORT TO SEPARATE FAKE FROM REAL.

SO WHENEVER WE SHARE A FORWARDED PIECES OF NEWS, VERIFY IT FIRST BECAUSE

SOMEONE’S WELL BEING MAY DEPEND ON IT.