Verifying the Source
Now watch this video:
Whether you’re looking at a website, photo, video or news story, what really matters is whether or not the people who originally created it are trustworthy. Even when it has been shared with you by someone you trust, like a friend or family member, you can’t know if they checked the facts. So it’s up to you!
You can’t always confirm that something is false, but if the source isn’t reliable you have no reason to believe it.
To find out if a source is reliable, ask these three questions:
Do they really exist?
It’s easy to make fake pictures, fake websites and fake social network profiles that look just as real and professional as anything out there.
“About Us” pages and profiles are easy to fake, so use Wikipedia or a search engine like Google to find out if other people say they really exist. Pay attention to things that are hard to fake: for example, if somebody claims to work for a particular company, check the company’s website or do a search for their name and the company’s name to see if they’ve ever been mentioned together in reliable sources (like a newspaper you already know is real)
Are they who they say they are?
It’s easy to pretend to be someone else online, so once you know the source really exists, you need to find out if what you’re looking at really came from them.
Some social networks, like Instagram, verify users by putting a blue checkmark next to their name. This does not mean they’re necessarily a reliable source, but it does mean that they are who they say they are. But on others, like X, the blue checkmark just means they’ve paid for a premium account.
To find out if you’re on an organization’s real website or social network profile, do a search or check Wikipedia to find their official web address or account.
Are they trustworthy?
For sources of general information, like newspapers, that means asking if they have a process for making sure they’re giving you good information, and a good track record of doing it. How often do they make mistakes? If they do make mistakes, do they admit them and publish corrections? Are they willing to publish things their owners, or their readers, wouldn’t agree with?
For more specialized sources, you want to ask whether they’re experts or authorities on that topic. Being an expert is more than just being a doctor, a scientist or a professor: make sure they are an expert in the area that they are talking about.
The same is true for groups that say they represent groups of doctors or scientists. A quick search will usually show you if they are for real. The American Academy of Pediatrics has 67,000 members. The American College of Pediatrics, on the other hand, has just 700.
You also want to make sure they have a strong reason to give you accurate information. Do a search to find out if accuracy and credibility are a big part of why people watch, read, buy or trust a source.