Real News vs. Fake News: Social Media

Check the account history of the source. Two red flags are: the number of posts and how long the account has been active. If it claims to be a well know source(like CNN or CBS) and only has a few posts in its history that is a clue. If it's a well know source and the account has only been active a short time that is another red flag.

Images of an event are often reused to deceive people. You can check if an image has been used before on a reverse image search service like TinEye.

Which of the following accounts is fake? How can you tell?

When reading news and searching online, consumers experience the "filter bubble." The filter bubble is formed by websites and search engines that personalize the content you see, like news and search results. Results you get are personalized based on factors, like location and past clicks. It means you may not see the same results as others. Eli Pariser coined the term.

The Filter Bubble and Google

How Google search works:

• Step 1: Google sends out web crawlers to scan and save, or index, webpages.
• Step 2: You search Google by typing words in the search bar.
• Step 3: Google searches its indexed webpages to find results that match your search words.
• Step 4: Google finds and organizes results based on factors, like your location or keywords. An algorithm, called PageRank, sorts and orders the results.
• Step 5: Google gives you search results.

Google's PageRank uses a bunch of factors to get results. Details that affect your individual search, like your location and search history, might be different from other people's. So when you search a topic, you might see different results than someone else gets. 

The Filter Bubble and Social Media

Filter bubbles are formed in social media environments through algorithms that deliver personalized information (like Facebook's News Feed) as well as through our own choices of who we follow.  Here's some food for thought:

How to Burst Your Filter Bubble

The most effective way to burst your filter bubble is to expand your personal learning network and vary the sources of your news and information.  You take the driver's seat!  Here are a few specifics:

• going directly to news websites,
• trying different search engines,
• finding news in different formats, like podcasts or social media,
• and following the news by using tools, like RSS, email newsletters, and more.

You can also take a deeper dive to change your mindset, adjust the settings on different applications, and use tools that will help you seek other perspectives: