By now I would imagine that everyone has heard the term fake news? At one time, before the internet came along, fake news was simply called local gossip.
My image of local gossip when growing up was of a couple of old women hanging over the garden fence and talking about some local event and sharing such things but without first knowing the full facts. That alone was bad enough if you were the target of such things but these days local gossip can now spread on a global scale around the world thanks to the internet. Sadly we are all guilty of spreading fake news when we share such false information on social networking sites without first checking to see if what we are sharing is true or not. However in all fairness who has the time to check first? As a general rule of thumb there are a few things that you can do to avoid not only sharing fake news but also avoid the risk of inadvertently becoming involved in some extremist religious, political or even terrorist groups in addition. The first thing to do is to check the source of the information being published or shared on the internet. Many online newspapers, or individual publications, are often only sharing such news items themselves but without checking first, so seeking out a reliable trustworthy source is a vital first step. In the case of something shared on social networking sites simply click on the author of the post to see who they are and what they do. That can tell you a lot about someone with regard to if they are a reliable source or not. Some news stories are of course true. However some news sources may have their own hidden agenda and only highlight what they want you to see or read. Bias news reporting is often just as bad as publishing totally fake news. On a final note, avoid conspiracy theorists at all costs. Although they may totally believe what they say there is a great risk that what they say is not based on proven factual evidence but more a case of a misunderstood or a misinformed view of the subject in question. Those who believe the earth is flat springs to mind if you see what I mean? For more bitesize articles, on various subjects, click >HERE< For a related article on fake news from the archives click >HERE< Comments are closed.
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