How to Stop Parents From Sharing Fake News Online
President Trump made several false accusations this week, including one about granting $ 9.2 billion to Hurricane Mary’s relief efforts in Puerto Rico , and another about his alleged exonerat by Ion Robert Mueller in yesterday’s court hearings.
Many websites circulate such false claims as cold, hard facts, which are circulated on Facebook and Twitter and transmitted by countless users. Megan Rapino’s soccer game defiantly stepped on the American flag! ( She didn’t do it on purpose .) Malia Obama was arrested! ( She was not there .)
On Buzzfeed News, reporter Craig Silverman asked a perfectly pertinent question given the current, perfectly normal news cycle: What do we do when our parents and other less experienced internet users share fake news? We couldn’t communicate our parents to Facebook mods (or can we?).
Below are some strategies for teaching your parents how to spot fake news online and hopefully contain the tide of spam, inaccurate links in your timeline.
Provide missing context
The next time you find your aunt sharing news about conspiracy theories – like how Mr. Rogers hid his secret past as a sniper and a Navy SEAL – send her a personal message, filling in any missing context or correcting false statements. …
As Buzzfeed News recommends, be positive, not confrontational, and don’t try to fix them to see their entire news feed – unless you see the post picking up steam; in this case, a public fix may work best to avoid re-offering in the future.
“If you call someone publicly via Facebook or anywhere else, he is likely to feel that his attack or shame, and you will not have the opportunity to hear why they wanted to share whatever content”, – says Silverman from Buzzfeed News .
You should also provide links to any supporting evidence or invite them to conduct their own online searches for a particular news item. They generally find more reliable sources by looking at the headlines on Google News than they do on Facebook or Twitter. Also be sure to check the date of the story; the news itself may be out of date and they should be aware of any new information.
Point out flaws in the source
Thus, you were trying to convince the parents of actress Betty White after several internet hoaxes; if the facts are not enough, make holes in the source itself. Is the site credible? Did it include stories that have been contested in the past? Better yet, do other reputable sources link to the articles posted on the site?
If you can answer “no” to any of these questions, and Betty White is completely alive, try convincing the other side with evidence to support this, such as other links or a detailed account of the source itself (or a recent tweet or Instagram by Sam White).
And if you want a place to start a conversation with your parents, aunts and uncles, try asking them to accept some of these tips from ConnectSafely before they re-share the post:
Develop your media literacy . Fake news often plays out with certain fears or beliefs, such as stories about President Obama or the right-wing shooter. If a story seems particularly one-sided or especially critical of a person or idea, it may very well be fake.
Watch out for odd urls . Fake news sites often have unusual URLs, but not always. The story that President Obama banned the oath in schools has appeared on ABCnews.com.co and should not be confused with legitimate ABCnews.com. Fake news sites can also have legitimate-sounding names and URLs, for example, fake news site Now8News published false stories about a woman starving her children so they could eat their food, and McDonald’s is closing 17,000 stores due to a minimum wage hike. …
Take a look at the section “About us” on the site . Satirical sites will clarify their mission.
Better yet, have them check rumors on sites like Snopes or Politifact , which dive deeply into checking rumors and conspiracy theories.
Share your verified stories
If you want to use false information without berating your schoolteacher, help fight its spread by sharing stories from authoritative sources on places like Twitter or Facebook.
Before re exchange you should show due diligence, using some of these tips from other ConnectSafely :
Read behind the headline . Does the story seem balanced, with support from both sides of the issue or story? Is there any authorship? If so, search for the author’s name and see what else he wrote. If you cannot find other stories by the author, this is a red flag.
Take a close look at the quotes . Fake news creators often don’t come up with quotes. If the source is identified, search by source name, organization, or company.
Be skeptical about photographs, not just text . Photos can be stolen and put on fake news to make them look like the real thing. They can also be “photoshopped” to place people in situations or places they have never been to. If the photo looks suspicious, do a reverse image search.
Of course, you always have the opportunity to report a particularly problematic message. On Facebook, simply click on the post, select “Find Support or Report” and select the reason you complained about the post. Likewise, on Twitter, simply click on the “Report a message” message and select a reason. Of course, this will not necessarily stop the post from posting unless the moderators intervene.
And if that still doesn’t convince your parents of the truth, persistence is key; keep going until they are baffled by the hard facts and finally decide to dig a little deeper before hitting the share button.